Town of Boothbay

Boothbay is a town in Lincoln County, incorporated on November 3, 1764. In 1842 it set off land to form Townsend, later to become Southport in 1850. It includes Damariscove Island, an early fishing outpost for Europeans.

Sharing the fate of many towns, when King Phillip's War spread in 1675, residents who had settled as early as the 1730's fled under increasing attack from the Indians. After a brief respite, they left again in 1689 abandoning the settlement.

Boothbay was named for Old Boothbay in Lincolnshire, England, at Welton le Marsh. It is the site of the Newagen settlement occupied in the early 1630's by fishermen. Henry Curtis purchased from Chief Robinhood the right to settle there in 1666 but in the Second Indian War the settlement was destroyed and not reoccupied for 40 years.

In 1730, Col. David Dunbar established the settlement of Townsend (named for Lord Charles Townsend the second viscount of England) with 40 families who resisted further Indian attacks long enough to incorporate the town under its current name in 1764.

A new town named Townsend was incorporated from land set off from Boothbay in 1842. It changed its name to Southport in 1850. Boothbay Harbor became a separate town in 1889.

The Boothbay Region is a center of summer tourist activity, with the Boothbay Playhouse being one of the summer theater attractions.

From Maine: An Encyclopedia (www.themaineencyclopedia.com)