Brunswick Falls, also known as Pejepscot Falls, is an

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...

section of the

Androscoggin River The Androscoggin River (Abenaki: ''Aləssíkαntekʷ'') is a river in the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire, in northern New England. It is U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, ...

, bordering the towns of Brunswick and

Topsham, Maine Topsham () is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,560 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area. The town is home to the annual Topsha ...

. First occupied by Paleoindians and the Wabanaki Native Americans, the falls were a plentiful resource for food and trade. Throughout

Colonial history Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 aut ...

, the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, and into the

21st century The 21st (twenty-first) century is the current century in the ''Anno Domini'' era or Common Era, under the Gregorian calendar. It began on 1 January 2001 ( MMI) and will end on 31 December 2100 ( MMC). Marking the beginning of the 21st centur ...

, the falls have been a vital part of Brunswick and Topsham's economy, harnessing its power for

energy development Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reuse ...

Ancient history

Pre-human

25,000 years ago all of

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, including

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, was covered by the massive

Laurentide Ice Sheet The Laurentide Ice Sheet was a massive sheet of ice that covered millions of square miles, including most of Canada and a large portion of the Northern United States, multiple times during the Quaternary glacial epochs, from 2.58 million years a ...

Climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

forced the sheet of ice to start receding, with the last of the glacial ice disappearing from Maine by 10,000 years ago. Large

sand dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

accumulated in this

glacial period A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...

as winds picked up outwash sand forming

river valleys A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

, such as the Androscoggin River. As the climate warmed, the modern stream and river network was soon established, including Brunswick Falls. The formation of the natural falls consists of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

and

Gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

, with three levels (prior to 1981). The rocks in the middle falls projects above the water at several points, serving as a natural island (Shad Island), to the several sections of the falls.

Indigenous peoples

Paleo-Indians, over several millennia, settled into the area, along the Androscoggin River and Brunswick falls, eventually becoming the Wabanaki Native Americans, encompassing what is today, Brunswick, Topsham and

Harpswell, Maine Harpswell is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, within Casco Bay in the Gulf of Maine. The population was 5,031 at the 2020 census. Harpswell is composed of land contiguous with the rest of Cumberland County, called Harpswell Ne ...

. The Wabanaki's called this area of Maine, Pejepscot, and lived there until the 1600s when the first Europeans arrived. During the time of the Wabanaki natives, they embraced the resources of the falls. Pejepscot Falls, as it was then called, was the site of a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

, that the Wabanaki's established, to exchange

fur Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...

s, with other local Native American tribes.

European settlement

In the year 1628

Thomas Purchase Thomas Purchase (1577–1678), also known as Thomas Purchis and Thomas Purchas, was the first English settler to occupy the region of Pejepscot, Maine in what is now Brunswick, Topsham and Harpswell. In 1628 he set up a trading post at th ...

of England was the first European settler to set foot in Pejepscot, building his own trading post, at Pejepscot Falls. Purchase had an agreement with the natives for the land, as long as they were still able to hunt and fish at the falls. Four years later, in 1632, the

Plymouth Company The Plymouth Company, officially known as the Virginia Company of Plymouth, was a division of the Virginia Company with responsibility for colonizing the east coast of America between latitudes 38° and 45° N. History The merchants (with ...

granted a patent to the land known as Pejepscot, including the falls, to Purchase and his brother in law, George Way. The Falls had a rich stock of salmon, sturgeon and

shad The Alosinae, or the shads,Alosinae

, which Purchase took advantage of, shipping barrels of fish laden with salt, to London. During the various

Native American Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...

in the region, there were two fortifications established adjacent to the falls. During

King William's War King William's War (also known as the Second Indian War, Father Baudoin's War, Castin's War, or the First Intercolonial War in French) was the North American theater of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand All ...

, the first fort was built in 1688;

Fort Andross Fort Andross, also known as Fort George and Cabot Mill, originally was a historic trading post and garrison built by the colonial British Empire to fortify against the Wabanaki Native Americans who were aligned with France during King William' ...

, commanded by Major Thomas Savage and under the authority of the

Dominion of New England The Dominion of New England in America (1686–1689) was an administrative union of English colonies covering New England and the Mid-Atlantic Colonies (except for Delaware Colony and the Province of Pennsylvania). Its political structure represe ...

. During

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...

, the second fortification was built in 1715 on the ruins of Fort Andross and was known as Fort George. This fort would be dismantled in 1736 when the Native American wars were coming to an end.

Dams

left, Brunswick Falls (Upper & middle), , Cabot Mill on the left Throughout the 19th century, there would be many dams built across the Androscoggin River, in between the towns of Brunswick and Topsham, Maine. The first dam was built in the year 1753 and like all subsequent dams of this century, were carried away from

freshet The term ''freshet'' is most commonly used to describe a spring thaw resulting from snow and ice melt in rivers located in upper North America. A spring freshet can sometimes last several weeks on large river systems, resulting in significant in ...

s. Colonel Loammi Baldwin, from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, made a survey of the

water-power Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a wa ...

of the Androscoggin River, in Brunswick. In his report, dated November 12, 1835, Baldwin stated that the Androscoggin River discharges more water than any other river in the state of Maine, being equal, at the lowest stage of the water, to more than per second. According to this report, all the water at Brunswick Falls is high, divided at that time by three dams. At the upper dam there was a fall of , at the middle dam, and at the lower dam, . From the upper to the lower dams, the distance of the

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

is . During the

, there was a multitude of

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Althou ...

s that harnessed the water-power of the falls.

Brunswick Hydroelectric Plant

''Sagadahoc Light and Power Company'' was the first organization to acquire electric power from Brunswick Falls, with a purposes to generate, sell, and distribute electricity for lighting, heating and manufacturing in the towns of Bath and Brunswick. They were acquired by ''Bath and Brunswick Light & Power Company'' in 1910, who in turn, was acquired by

Central Maine Power Avangrid, Inc. (formerly Energy East and Iberdrola USA), is an energy services and delivery company. AVANGRID serves about 3.1 million customers throughout New England, Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. History In ...

on December 31, 1920. Between 1979 and 1982 construction occurred for the Brunswick Hydroelectric Station, operated by

Brookfield Renewable Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. is a publicly traded limited partnership that owns and operates renewable power assets, with corporate headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is 60% owned by Brookfield Asset Management. As of the end of ...

, sending power to Central Maine Power's electrical grid. The dam became the lower most dam on the Androscoggin River at

head of tide Head of tide, tidal limit or tidehead is the farthest point upstream where a river is affected by tidal fluctuations, or where the fluctuations are less than a certain amount. This applies to rivers which flow into tidal bodies such as oceans, ...

. Commercial power generation at Unit 1 began in March 1982. In 1982 construction began on Units 2 and 3 of the Brunswick hydroelectric station including a

fish ladder A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as movemen ...

. It was completed in May 1983. The station has three generators at work for a total capacity of 20

megawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt ...

. Generator 1, being the largest has a capacity of 13 megawatts and generators 2 and 3 both have a capacity of 3.5 megawatts.

Fishways

Since 1809 when the first cotton mill was erected at the falls, fish have been blocked off by dams from this portion of the Androscoggin River. salmon, sturgeon, alewife and shad were very abundant in the Androscoggin, but their number has greatly diminished during modern times. In 1871 a substantial stone

fishway A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as move ...

was made at the middle falls. To construct it, the ledge on the northwest end of the dam was cut through. The fishway was on the Topsham side of the dam, at the lower side. The height of the fall at this time was . A year later, a wooden fishway was put in on the lower dam next to Shad Island. These were not the first fishways, as early as 1789 the fish wardens were instructed by the town of Topsham to see that the dams were opened so that fish could pass. While the falls original dams were made from wood and stone, later dams were constructed out of concrete, eliminating the possibility for fish to move upstream. By the 1930s, the Androscoggin's population of sea-run fish was virtually gone, although the

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibiliti ...

of 1972 helped restore a few

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of fish. In 1982, during the construction of the Brunswick Hydroelectric Dam, a

, at a cost of , was built, It was believed that 85,000 American Shad would pass through the ladder each year, however, as reported in 2005, only 0 - 1,100 per year are able to swim up the steps of the ladder. shad, salmon and sturgeon are sometimes able to make it up, but are often beaten or injured along the way.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Maine, Geography History of Maine Dams in Maine Geography of Maine Waterfalls of Maine Hydroelectric power plants in Maine Pejepscot, Maine