Augusta Downtown (Augusta, Maine)

 downtown / central business district, neighborhood, draw only border

City with a population of 18,560 in 2000. State capital and county seat of Kennebec County. Europeans first settled here in 1629 when explorers from Plymouth Colony established a trading post here at the head of tide of the Kennebec River. They used the Native American name of the settlement, Cushnoc, meaning "head of tide." The town was sold in 1661, but resettled by the British in 1754 when a blockhouse was built here as a way to protect the area from Native American attacks and supply Fort Halifax. Incorporated in 1797 by the Massachusetts General Court as Harrington, but renamed Augusta after the daughter of Henry Dearborn, the Congressman for the District of Maine. Designated state capital in 1827, but the capital was not officially moved here until 1832. Chartered as a city in 1849. Location of the University of Maine at Augusta.