In 1605, Samuel de Champlain is thought to have stopped in the region that is now Wiscasset and exchanged gifts with the Indians, although Wiscasset was not settled by Europeans until 1663.
The settlement was abandoned during the French and Indian Wars, then resettled around 1730. In 1760, it was incorporated as Pownalborough, after Colonial Governor Thomas Pownall; but in 1802, the voters opted to take its original Abenaki Indian name, Wiscasset.
Wiscasset became a seaport, and a center for shipbuilding, fishing, and lumber, and Fort Edgecomb was constructed on the opposite bank of the Sheepscot River to protect the town's harbor. Its relative prosperity left behind several examples of early architecture, particularly in the Federal style. Two homes from the period, Castle Tucker and the Nickels-Sortwell House, are now operated as museums.
The Lincoln County Courthouse, completed in 1824, is the oldest in continuous use and its records are well preserved. Daniel Webster once haunted its chambers.
Wiscasset was also the seaport terminal and standard gauge interchange for the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway, whose construction began in Wiscasset in 1894, and train service becoming available as the Wiscasset and Quebec Railroad in 1895. By 1913, the railroad operated daily freight and passenger services. However, most of the railroad equipment was converted to scrap metal during World War II.
From 1972 to 1996, the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant, a pressurized water reactor on Bailey Point, was in operation; however, it has since been decommissioned and is inoperative.
Today, Wiscasset is a popular tourist destination.
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