The Presumpscot River
Short by most standards, the Presumpscot rolls twenty-five miles, from Sebago Lake to Casco Bay, passing through Windham, Gorham, Westbrook, Falmouth and Portland. However, in that short distance it drops over 270 feet.
Even though the river is short, it's impact is great. With a watershed of 648 square miles, the Presumpscot is the largest freshwater input into Casco Bay.
Its name, "Presumpscot", originates from the local Abanaki word meaning "many falls" or "many rough places", revealing its true natural identity. The river embraced vast amounts of river spawning Atlantic salmon, shad, and alewives as well as being home to land-locked salmon, brook trout, and the now extinct Presumpscot Jumper. In 1650 it was noted that, "...at certain times, the entire surface of the river for a foot deep was all fish."
In its natural state, the Presumpscot was both beautiful and bountiful.
No longer seen as a river destined to be defined by man's use, with careful stewardship the river can move to a rebirth of its once original beauty and bounty.
Even though the river is short, it's impact is great. With a watershed of 648 square miles, the Presumpscot is the largest freshwater input into Casco Bay.
Its name, "Presumpscot", originates from the local Abanaki word meaning "many falls" or "many rough places", revealing its true natural identity. The river embraced vast amounts of river spawning Atlantic salmon, shad, and alewives as well as being home to land-locked salmon, brook trout, and the now extinct Presumpscot Jumper. In 1650 it was noted that, "...at certain times, the entire surface of the river for a foot deep was all fish."
In its natural state, the Presumpscot was both beautiful and bountiful.
No longer seen as a river destined to be defined by man's use, with careful stewardship the river can move to a rebirth of its once original beauty and bounty.
River Firsts
The Presumpscot River has many industrial "firsts":
The Presumpscot River had other major firsts in history as well:
- Maine's first paper mill in the 1730s in Westbrook.
- Maine's first dam in 1735 at Presumpscot Falls.
- Maine's first hydroelectric dam in 1889 at Smelt Hill dam.
The Presumpscot River had other major firsts in history as well:
- The first battle over fish passage in Maine. Chief Polin of the Rockameecock Indians walked to Boston to plead with Governor Shirley of the Massachusetts colony for fish passage at the dam, twice. In 1756 in an exacerbation of the dispute, settlers killed Chief Polin along the river bank.
- The site of the first recorded sale of alcohol to a Native American. Squitregusset, of the Aucociscos, sold all his land on the Presumpscot near Falmouth for one gallon of liquor a year.
Present Day Dams
No other river in Maine has had virtually all of its hydraulic head developed with dams. Until the removal of the Smelt Hill dam in 2002, there were 10 dams impounding 22 of 27 miles of the river. There are currently 9 dams on the Presumpscot River.
Working downstream from Sebago Lake they are as follows:
Head, Eel Weir, Great Falls, Dundee, Gambo, Little Falls, Mallison Falls, Saccarappa Falls, and Cumberland Mills. All are owned by South African Paper and Pulp Industries (SAPPI), except for Great Falls which is owned by Florida Power & Light. All are also hydro-power generating except for Head and Cumberland Mills.
Working downstream from Sebago Lake they are as follows:
Head, Eel Weir, Great Falls, Dundee, Gambo, Little Falls, Mallison Falls, Saccarappa Falls, and Cumberland Mills. All are owned by South African Paper and Pulp Industries (SAPPI), except for Great Falls which is owned by Florida Power & Light. All are also hydro-power generating except for Head and Cumberland Mills.
A rich history reflects competing values for development and fisheries:
- Power from the river was fundamental to the economic development of the area from colonial times through the industrial era. The Presumpscot was the site of Maine’s first pulp mill, first hydroelectric project, and largest gunpowder mill.
- The Presumpscot River was the site of the first armed conflict between the settlers and Indians in Maine, in 1756, over the blockage of fish by dams (Chief Polin uprising). The Rockomeecook Tribe had settlements along the river where they harvested fish for food and fertilizer for corn.
- The first hundred years after the dams were built on the river, beginning in the 1730’s and until around 1850, there were protests and filings to require fish passages at dams (some were built).
- Next 100 years (1850’s – 1950’s): River used for industrial waste; not suitable for fish.
- Industries included gunpowder, textiles, pulp and paper, and others. Cumberland and Oxford Canal built and operated 1829 – c.1870.
- Since 1970’s: Clean Water Act; treatment of waste discharges; river begins recovery.
- Last decade: Flows to the Eel Weir bypass restored for trout and salmon fishery. SAPPI pulp operation ceases and Smelt Hill dam removed; interest spurred in restoring more of the river for fisheries.
Historic Falls
Before being drowned by these dams, the Presumpscot had at least 12 falls along its length, including the following:
- Wescott Falls
- Great Falls
- Whitney Falls
- Island Falls
- Dundee Falls
- Leavitts Falls Gambo Falls
- Little Falls
- Mallison Falls
- Saccarappa Falls
- Ammonscongin Falls
- Presumpscot Falls
Historic Fisheries
- 1500s - Ammoscongin [now Cumberland Mills Dam in Westbrook] was selected as an Indian planting ground because of the great quantity of fish there. Fish were so abundant they were used as fertilizer.
- The first accounts of Europeans tell of the Presumpscot as a river where "the entire surface of the river, for a foot deep was all fish."
- The Presumpscot River historically supported American shad, Atlantic salmon, alewives, the blue back herring, striped bass, brook trout as well as both landlocked and sea run Atlantic salmon.
See the Presumpscot River Watershed Coalition's excellent background paper on the Presumpscot River here for more information.