Main Street Historic District (Damariscotta, Maine)

The town of Damariscotta, located in the Mid Coast part of Maine, is located at the head of navigation of the Damariscotta River. This area has a colonial history dating to 1625, when land including the town was purchased from Native Americans by John Brown. The town was first settled in 1754, and was incorporated in 1847 from parts of Bristol and Nobleboro. The town was by then a significant shipbuilding center. Its downtown was largely destroyed by a fire in 1845, after which it was rebuilt in brick and wood. Many of its buildings date from this period or later in the 19th century.[2]

Damariscotta's downtown is located on a neck of land that projects into the broad Damariscotta River, where Main Street (United States Route 1, the area's main thoroughfare) crosses to the downtown area of Newcastle on the west side. Commercial buildings line the southern side of Main Street as far as Water Street, while the north side is lined by a combination of commercial and residential properties up to Church Street. Many of the residences on the western portion of the north side have been adapted for commercial use. These notably include two particularly fine houses, the Matthew Cottrill House and the Stephen Coffin House, were built by leading shipbuilders and merchants in the early 19th century and survived the 1845 fire. At the eastern end of the district is the 1754 Chapman-Hall House, one of the oldest in the town, and the 1840s Greek Revival Damariscotta Baptist Church.[2][3]

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Lincoln County, Maine
• Downtown Damariscotta Visitor Information