To use the complimentary and probably truthful remarks of a gentleman long a resident at the capital, Augusta, "No river in the United States, within the same distance, can be found with more pleasant and delightful scenery, more beautiful villages, or a more thriving population." "The principal business places on its banks are, beginning at its mouth, Bath, Richmond, Gardiner, Pittston, Hallowell, Augusta, Waterville, Fairfield, Bloomfield, Millburn, Norridgewock, and Anson. Bath has long been known for its ship-building, having furnished many of the finest ships engaged in our European trade. Richmond, Gardiner, Pittston, and some other towns on the river, have also built many fine vessels. From Merry-meeting Bay (the confluence of the Kennebeck and Androscoggin from the west) to the Dead River is a fine farming country, while the lumbering region on the Kennebeck, for the most part, extends northward to the lake, around it and its tributaries, and at the Dead River. Formerly a considerable quantity of lumber was cut on the Sebasticook; but now the quantity is very much diminished, owing to the scarcity of logs on that river."
There are several noted falls on the river; the first is at Waterville. "The Kennebeck River is there observed rushing through a breach which has been formed by the disruption of stratified argillaceous slate." "The fall of water is from a ledge of these rocks, and varies from eighteen to twenty feet, according to the state of the river."
The next considerable fall on the river is at Skowhegan, "produced by the falling of the Kennebeck over a rocky ledge to the distance of from ten to twelve feet. During the fatal campaign of Arnold, his army encamped upon an island near the falls, and occasionally relics of the encampment are now found, such as pipes, coins, &c."
Skowhegan Falls, on the Kennebeck.
At Norridgewock the Kennebeck plunges about ten feet over ledges of hard argillaceous slate, which constitute another step in the series of pitches over which the river passes, seeking its home and level in the bosom of the Atlantic Ocean. Nau-lau-chu-wak is said to be the original and true Indian orthography, the sense of which is this: these falls, or this place, is the only obstruction to navigation.
At Caritunk Falls, still further up river, and half a mile from Solon village, "the Kennebeck dashes over hard quartz rock and mica slate ledges, which run northeast, southwest, and dip northwest 60°. Measured barometrically, the fall is sixteen feet perpendicular, but is said sometimes to be upward of twenty feet. The gorge through which the water passes is fifty feet."[ [21]
The lumbering interests on the Kennebeck still hold a marked prominence.
There is reported on this river and its tributaries, from Bath northward, including all its tributaries (not including the Androscoggin as one), one hundred and fifty saw-mills, several of which, from Augusta down, are driven by steam.
Averaging the various amounts of long lumber, as reported from sources the most reliable, we report 66,900,000 feet as the amount of long lumber sawed in one year, though not the invariable amount, as this differs on all rivers more or less, as the various influences to which this business is subjected operate. The average price of long lumber has been variously estimated by different gentlemen who have given an opinion, but, from the best evidences before me, I venture to put it down at $12 per M.