Pembroke, Maine

 town, draw only border

 Upload a photo

Called Pennamaquan by the Passamaquoddy Indians, the area was settled about 1774 as part of Dennysville. It was set off and incorporated on February 4, 1832 by the legislature, which named it after Pembroke in Wales, a community with a history of wooden shipbuilding stretching back to the Middle Ages. With one of the finest harbors in Maine, Pembroke itself became a shipbuilding center. Vessels were constructed here as early as 1825. By 1859, when the population was 1,712, there were seven shipyards operating. Most of the schooners constructed here were used either by the coasting trade or fisheries.

Pembroke also had a stone factory, three sawmills, one gristmill, four shingle mills and four lath machines. Near the head of tide stood the Pembroke Iron Company, established in 1832 and by 1856 producing almost 5,000 tons of iron spikes, rivets and nails a year. Another principal occupation was agriculture. In 1880, the town's population was 2,324.