Influences on Early Augusta

Dominating influences of the time were railroad transportation, the Civil War, fires and floods. In the early 1800s, the Kennebec River was the preferred mode of freight transportation via steamers to Portland and Boston. The river was an important resource but it was also the source of very damaging floods along Water Street. Notable flood years were 1832, 1870 (160 feet of the Kennebec dam was swept away), 1896, 1923, and a March 1936 flood was considered one of the most disastrous to hit the city. Recently, the flood of 1987 is a reminder that the force of the Kennebec River must still be respected.

Transportation began to evolve in the mid 1800s. The first locomotive reached Augusta in 1852 from Brunswick, via the Kennebec & Portland Railroad, headed by John S. Cushing. An "elegant" depot was built in Augusta that was later destroyed by fire in 1864 along with 12 freight cars. By 1855 a railroad line had been built from Augusta to Fairfield, and the following year track was laid to Skowhegan, then Bangor. The line was known as the Somerset & Kennebec and was headed by Joseph Morill of Augusta. Augusta became the connecting point of the two railroads, providing service between Bangor and Boston. Rail was initially viewed primarily as passenger transportation and steamboats were still considered the source for freight transport. In the late 1860s, "scoot" steam trains operated between Augusta to Gardiner to accommodate heavy passenger travel between the two cities. Railroads, however, soon became the primary mode of freight transport.

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