East Machias

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mah-CHI-uhs] is a town in Washington County, incorporated on January 26, 1826 from a portion of Machias.

Settled in 1763, the area now known as Machias, East Machias, and Machiasport had attracted the interest of settlers since 1633.

East Machias was changed to Mechisses in 1840 but was changed back to its current name on April 6, 1841.

Benjamin Foster built a house on the site of this historical marker in 1765 and served in the Revolutionary War.

He may have been a relative of Benen Foster who also lived in Machias (which then included East Machias) and outlined his experiences in a deposition given as his application for a war service pension.

U.S. Congress member and state legislator Joshua Lowell lived here during the 19th century.

The town’s population peaked in 1860 at 2,181, then declined each census until a century later in 1960, when the decline ended and a relatively stable population has been maintained.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Washington Academy is a private boarding school serving grades 9-12.  Established in 1792, it is one of the oldest academies in Maine.

The institution was originally a feeder school for Bowdoin College in the early 1900s.

Continuing its focus on higher education, in recent years an average 85 percent of the graduating class has been accepted to colleges or universities. “Since John Hancock, then the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, signed the charter founding the school in 1792, WA has moved locations, constructed new buildings, and opened its doors to students from around the world.”**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The town lies north of Machiasport at the confluence of the Machias and East Machias rivers and then into Machias Bay.

The East Machias River, the outlet of the four mile Hadley Lake, splits the town into commercial and residential areas. The town has boat launches and a long shoreline surrounding the lake, with access om the Palmerlanding Road of Route 191.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Form of Government: Town Meeting-Select Board-Administrative Assistant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional resources

Grant, Flora Case. These Were the Days of My Life: An Autobiography. Dennysville, Me. 1980.

Grant, Flora Case and Henry Smith Whittier. East Machias, 1765-1926. Machias, Me. University of Maine. 1975.

*Maine. Historic Preservation Commission. Augusta, Me.   Text and photos from National Register of Historic Places: http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/nrhp/text/xxxxxxxx.PDF and http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/nrhp/photos/xxxxxxxx.PDF

Mason, Albert C. The Munson Family of East Machias. Machias. Me.? Machias Valley News. 1835.

State of Maine Bridge Division. Machiasport and East Machias Bridge Study; Machias River Bridge. Augusta, Me. 1967.

** Washington Academy. https://www.washingtonacademy.org/about (accessed February 7, 2019)

Whittier, Henry S. The Harris Family of East Machias, 1787-1930. 19??

National Register of Historic Places – Listings

East Machias Historic District

[High, Water, and Bridge Street] Until 1826, the history of Machias is also that of East Machias and the use of the term Machias in this text should be taken to mean the Machias area.

Settled in 1763, the area now known as Machias, East Machias, and Machiasport had attracted the interest of settlers since 1633 when Isaak Allerton opened a trading post at Machias under the auspices of the Plymouth Company. It was soon abandoned when it came into into conflict with the French. In 1688 a census was taken of all settlers living between the Penobscot and the St. Croix Rivers. According to the tally there were nine French settlers living at Machias. As was the case with the French settlement at Pentagoet (Castine), the small settlement at Machias was abandoned by the French. It was settled by the English in 1763.

Early in the fall of 1762, Isaiah Foster and Isaac Larrabee and others came from Scarborough to explore for sources of hay, sites for sawmills, and areas for possible settlement. They eventually reached Machias and were impressed with the area’s possibilities. An association was formed to build a double saw mill at Machias (now the town of Machias). The associates including Sylvanus Scott, Isaiah Foster and Isaac Larrabee, took their families and came to Machias in April of 1763. Joel Bonney and Woodin Foster were hired carpenters to go along. Their small vessel arrived on the 20th of May 1763, anchoring first at the Rim in what is now East Machias.

The little settlement prospered and in 1765 more settlers arrived. By this time many of the settlers had established themselves at East Falls, now East Machias. Samuel Scott, a brother of Sylvanus Scott, Woodin Foster, Benjamin Foster, Daniel Fogg and others erected the first sawmill at East Machias in 1765, and lived in East Machias. Sylvanus Scott settled on the Rim in East Machias. The Rim was known as Scotts point at that time.

In 1770, the grant of a township was given by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. By this grant, the petitioners became owners of the soil within their township. The township included Machias, East Machias, Machiasport, Whitneyville, and Marshfield. On May 12, 1784, Machias was incorporated and in 1790 was divided into four school districts.  The present town of East Machias being one of them. Washington Academy was built in 1823.

In  1826 East Falls was separated from Machias and incor­porated as the town of East Mach. The first town meeting was held on March 6, 1826. East Machias has been a thriving little community. The 19^th century economic base, its lumber mills and ship­ yards, are gone but the village remains, a reminder of the early pioneers who carved their home out of the Maine wilderness.

Washington on Academy and the Churches remain in East Machias. citizens of this area played significant roles in the American Revolution and in the War of 1812.

Historic structures in the District include First Congregational Church, Washington Academy, and Woodin Foster’s house.*

The Rim and Site of Fort Foster

[South of East Machias on U.S. Route 1] The people of the Machias area were particularly ardent patriots during the Revolution. In the “First Naval Battle of the Revolution” on June 12, 1775, the British ship Margaretta was fired upon from Scott’s wharf on the Rim Point by Col. Benjamin Foster and a party he led. After dropping down to Machias Bay, the Margaretta was captured.  See Margaretta.

British retaliation encouraged the revolutionary forces to build defensive fortifications. By this time the townspeople had built a breastwork (a wall thrown together to serve as a defense in battle; a temporary fortification) on Scott’s Point and when a party of 500 men landed they were driven back. The whole British force returned to Halifax.

Sufficiently alarmed, the inhabitants continued to arm against the British. In July, 1776, they constructed a boom across the narrows at the Rim. A breastwork was completed on the south of the river in September. Sylvanus Scoter, who lived on the Rim, was directed to build another breastwork near his house. This fortification, with a watchbox and house for the men, was Fort Foster.

On August 13, 1777, the British sent two 44 gun frigates with two smaller ships of 28 and 18 guns under the command of Sir George Collier to deal with the recalcitrant inhabitants. Benjamin Foster immediately took charge of Fort Foster and Major Stillman took command on the south side of the river. When the brig “Hope”, which was acting as a transport, encountered the boom at five in the evening, Foster fired upon her. The British succeeded in landing the next morning, however, Fort Foster was deserted after the cannons were destroyed. August 15th the people of Machias regained possession of Fort Foster and the British ships were harassed on their way to sea.*

Talbot, James R., House

[US Route 1] The James R. Talbot House is the most Important mansard house In the Machias area, and one of the principal examples of the style in Washington County.

The house was designed by James A. Tenney of Portland in 1874. It is the only surviving one of his designs in eastern Maine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most mansard houses in central and eastern Maine were designed according to a particular formula, even the smallest architectural detail hardly varied from house to house. The Talbot House uses a different decorative vocabulary, incorporating a number of features rarely found elsewhere.  The House is very individualized, a rare characteristic among Maine houses of the 1860s and 1870s.

James R, Talbot (1819-1899) was one of the the Machias area’s foremost lumber manufacturers and shipbuilders. Talbot was also an influential Democrat, and served in the Maine State House of Representatives (1860-1869) and Senate (1875-1879).*