Damariscove Island, Boothbay Harbor

Damariscove is an uninhabited island that is part of Boothbay Harbor, Lincoln County, Maine, United States, about 5nmi off the coast at the mouth of the Damariscotta River. The long, narrow island is approximately 2mi long and 1500ft at its widest point. The island has served in the past as a fishing settlement and a Coast Guard life saving station.
The earliest residents of the island were the Abenaki, who called the island Aquahega or "place of landing." As early as 1604, the island was settled as a commercial fishing enterprise, with Francis Popham among those sending fishing vessels there on yearly expeditions. Captain John Smith charted the island as "Damerils Iles" after a visit in 1614, with the name traditionally attributed to Humphrey Damerill. Damerill had been a member of the failed Popham Colony, but moved to Damariscove in 1608 to establish a store to supply the fishing community. By 1622, the island was home to 13 year-round fishermen, with 2 shallops in the winter and up to 30 sailing ships fishing the waters in the spring. The fishermen had also constructed a fort with a palisade and mounted gun. When the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony were facing starvation in the spring of 1622, they sent a boat to Damariscove to beg for assistance. The fishermen responded by filling the colonists’ boat with cod which helped ensure the Pilgrims’ survival.