A village up the road.

May 20th 2013
Thomaston (formerly known as Fort Georges, )
is a town in Knox County, Maine.

Above is view of the Prison, which has now been
demolished. Maine had one of the first Prisons in America.  

 Thomaston has been associated with shipbuilding
for over 200 years. In 1630, long before vessels were actually being built in Thomaston, English ships were navigating the George's River to reach the dense inland forests. Great timbers were transported back to England for use as masts in the King’s ships. Captain George Waymouth arrived in 1605 and left a cross where the river trends westward.


The population was 2,781 at the 2010

census. Noted for its antique architecture,

Thomaston is an old Sea Port.

As early as 1630, a  trading Post  was established
on the eastern bank of the St. George River,
then considered the boundary between New Eng.
and New France. In 1704,
Thomas LeFebvre from Quebec bought a large tract
of land along the Weskeag River on
which he built a gristmill, with a house on the
shoreline at what is now South Thomaston. 

Wheaton was the first permanent
settler in 1763. Located at the heart of
the Waldo Patent, Thomaston was incorporated
from St. Georges Plantation on March 20, 1777.
Many settlers arrived following the
Revolutionary war in 1783.
General Henry Knox ( US Sec. of War)
built his mansion,
 Montpelier, at Thomaston in 1793-1794.

 On the 15th of June, 1722, the Indians made their descent upon the settlement, burning the saw-mill, setting fire to a sloop in the harbor, and destroying all the houses and frames that had been erected a few months before.
A vigorous assault was then made upon the blockhouses, and it was with great difficulty that the garrison saved them from destruction. The Indians retired, but in the July, renewed the attack; vigorously pressing the siege for 12 days. Thomaston has a great and interesting
history.
I am going to the Memorial Day Concert in front of the Knox Mansion, then take my Daughter for the tour inside the Home. There she can see the furniture George Washington gave Henry Knox, and Marie
Antoinette's furniture that was shipped to Maine.
I have been interested in
 another story about Maine.
Here's some Dirt::
In June 1875, Louis Wagner ("the Smuttynose Axe Murderer"), alongside John True Gordon ("the Thorndike Slayer"), were hung on the Gallows of the Maine State Prison of Thomaston. Louis Wagner was forgotten by history until the recent book Return to Smuttynose Island and other Maine Axe Murders by Emeric Spooner. Mr. Spooner located Wagner's grave which can still be viewed in the Old Prison Cemetery on the grounds of the former prison.

In 1873 two Norwegian women were murdered.

The third fleed to say it was German -born Wagner.

He was a fisherman. There is a novel out

"The Weight of the Sea," by Shreve and a new book

out by Emeric Spooner.

"Smuttynose Island Axe Murders"

Sounds like a new MOVIE.

The Island is off the coast of Kittery Maine, 6 Mi. out.





Posted by Yvonne @ La Petite Gallery

Comments are welcome