Sagadahoc

Sagadahoc was an early name for the Kennebec River, which flows south through the great forests of Maine to the Atlantic Ocean. At its mouth, islands and headlands frame the entrance to the river. The waterway runs through the homeland of Abenaki communities, linking the interior with the coast.

In 1607 the English Plymouth Company established the Popham, or Sagadahoc, colony near the river mouth. The colonists built Fort St George and a small vessel named the Virginia, the first ocean-going ship built by the English in North America. The settlement was abandoned after fourteen months, but the Virginia crossed the Atlantic and later sailed to Jamestown. Its second crossing in 1609 survived the storm that wrecked the expedition's flagship on Bermuda.