MAINE: WISCASSET DISTRICT. 71 



According to Mr. W. P. Leiiiit.x, Wise-asset was formerly extensively engaged in tbe fisheries, 

 and being tbe only port in tbc district all of tbe vessels of tbe region were obliged to go tbere to 

 paper. Tbe business began about 1822, and increased so rapidly that in 1832 $3,000 was paid in 

 bounties to tbe fishermen belonging to the Wiscasset district. 



Tbe fishery was at its height between 1858 and I860, when thirty to thirty-five sail of "bankers" 

 and an equal number of shore-vessels fitted at Wiscasset. Many of them were owned wholly or in 

 part in tbe town, and tbe rest belonged to the towns of Woolwich, Soutbport, Westport, and Booth 

 Bay, where the i ulk of the catch was landed to be cured for market. The vessels usually made short 

 trips in the early spring to Cape Sable, after which they went to "the Cape shore" for cod, returning 

 in time to engage in the mackerel fisheries of the New England coast in the late summer and fall. 



The method of trawling was introduced into the region about 1845, and from tbe first was 

 remarkably successful among the "bankers," the vessels securing full cargoes of larger and better 

 fish in about two-thirds of the time required with baud lines. Very little bait was carried by tbe 

 Wiscasset vessels, tbe greater part of them using herring that were taken in gill-nets from day to 

 day while tbe vessel lay at anchor on tbe fishing grounds The vessels were "fitted at tbe 

 halves,'' and the crews were gathered from the surrounding country. 



From I860 tbe fishing interests of the town gradually declined, and by 1873 Wiscasset had 

 entirely lost the trade in this line, the vessels for the most part fitting in Booth Bay and Port- 

 land. 



At the present time Wiscasset has only one vessel, a schooner of 53.50 tons, engaged in tbe fish- 

 eries. This vessel carries twelve men, aud lands her catch wholly at Gloucester and Portland, seldom 

 returning home during tbc fishing season. Tbere are no boat-fisheries of note, and, aside from 

 the vessel mentioned, tbe only fishing consists in tbe capture of a few fish and lobsters for the 

 Wiscasset market by fishermen belonging at Edgecomb and other towns nearer the fishing grounds. 



A small part of tbe business of tbe town is indirectly dependent on tbe fisheries. One of the 

 largest saw-mills is extensively engaged in tbe manufacture of fish-box shocks, shipping annually 

 to Gloucester and Provincetowu from 22,000 to 25,000 in number, valued at $10,000. Tbe mill 

 employs about fifty men and boys, aud is engaged chiefly in the manufacture of sugar-box shocks 

 and hogshead heads for the West India trade; aud it is only the refuse lumber, that cannol be 

 used for this purpose, that is worked up for fish-boxes. Tbe sbooks are shipped by vessel, fully 

 nine-tenths of the entire quantity going to Gloucester. About one-fourth of the business of the 

 mill is dependent upon this trade. 



WESTPORT. Westport is a narrow island forming tbe western bank of Sbeepscott Bay. It 

 lies just south of Wiscasset, extending to tbe lower part of Georgetown, a distance of 10 or 11 

 miles. It was formerly a part of Edgecomb, but was set off and incorporated in 1828. In 1870 it 

 had a population of 699. 



Many dilapidated buildings along the shores of the island mark the location of defunct 

 curing-stands, where formerly an extensive business was done, showing that Westport must have 

 taken a prominent place among the fishing towns of the State. Ship-building was carried on 

 to some extent, and two or three yards furnished a good many vessels to this and adjoining towns. 

 Westport vessels joined the Booth Bay fleet in the Labrador fisheries in 1819, and three or four 

 schooners were sent yearly until 1850. Vessels were sent from Westport to the Magdalen Islands 

 for herring at an early date, the schooner Banner visiting the locality before 1830. By 1840 six 

 sail of large vessels went regularly to these islands in the early spring, bringing their catch home 

 in bulk, where tbe fish were smoked and boxed for the Boston market. Several parties engaged 

 extensively in the business, and large smoke-houses were built in different parts of tbe town. 



