Brunswick Falls
| Brunswick Falls | |
|---|---|
| Pejepscot Falls | |
 Brunswick Falls (Middle tier) from the Frank J. Wood Bridge ca.2022 | |
  | |
| Location | Brunswick and Topsham, Maine, US |
| Coordinates | 43°55′17″N 69°58′04″W / 43.9214°N 69.9678°W[1] |
| Type | Cascade |
| Total height | 41.83 feet (12.75 m) (1835) |
| Number of drops | 3 |
| Run | 1,980 feet (600 m) (1835) |
| Watercourse | Androscoggin River |
| Average flow rate | 85,000 cu ft/s (2,400 m3/s) |
Brunswick Falls, also known as Pejepscot Falls, is an ancient section of the Androscoggin River, bordering the towns of Brunswick and Topsham, Maine. First occupied by Paleoindians and the Wabanaki Native Americans, the falls were a plentiful resource for food and trade. Throughout Colonial history, the Industrial Revolution, and into the 21st century, the falls have been a vital part of Brunswick and Topsham's economy, harnessing its power for energy development.
Ancient history
Pre-human
25,000 years ago all of New England, including Maine, was covered by the massive Laurentide Ice Sheet. Climate change forced the sheet of ice to start receding, with the last of the glacial ice disappearing from Maine by 10,000 years ago.[2]
Large sand dunes accumulated in this glacial period as winds picked up outwash sand forming river valleys, such as the Androscoggin River. As the climate warmed, the modern stream and river network was soon established, including Brunswick Falls.[2]
The formation of the natural falls consists of granite and Gneiss, with three levels (prior to 1981). The rocks in the middle falls projects above the water at several points, serving as a natural island (Shad Island), to the several sections of the falls.[3]
Indigenous peoples
The first Indigenous peoples of the Americas to inhabit Maine were called Paleoindians by archaeologists,[4] migrating from the former landmass of Beringia.[5] The Paleoindians made part of their living by hunting caribou and fishing for salmon, sturgeon, and shad with their small campsites marked by distinctive stone tools and spread across New England.[4]
The Paleoindians, over several millennia, settled into the area, along the Androscoggin River and eventually became the Wabanaki Native Americans, encompassing what is today, Brunswick, Topsham and Harpswell, Maine. The Wabanaki's called this area of Maine, Pejepscot, and lived there until the 1600's when the first Europeans arrived.[6]: 1 During the time of the Wabanaki natives, they embraced the resources of the falls.[7] Pejepscot Falls, as it was then called, was the site of a trading post, that the Wabanaki's established, to exchange furs, with other local Native American tribes.[8]: 1
European settlement
In the year 1628 Thomas Purchase of England was the first European settler to set foot in Pejepscot, building his own trading post, at Pejepscot Falls. Purchase had an agreement with the natives for the land, as long as they were still able to hunt and fish at the falls. Four years later, in 1632, the Plymouth Company granted a patent to the land known as Pejepscot, including the falls, to Purchase and his brother in law, George Way. The Falls had a rich stock of salmon, sturgeon and shad, which Purchase took advantage of, shipping barrels of fish laden with salt, to London.[6]: 552, 789
During the various Native American Wars in the region, there were two fortifications established adjacent to the falls. During King William's War, the first fort was built in 1688; Fort Andross, commanded by Major Thomas Savage and under the authority of the Dominion of New England. During King Philip's War, the second fortification was built in 1715 on the ruins of Fort Andross and was known as Fort George. This fort would be dismantled in 1736 when the Native American wars were coming to an end.[6]: 625
Dams
Throughout the 18th Century, there would be many dams built across the Androscoggin River, in between the towns of Brunswick and Topsham, Maine. The first dam was built in the year 1753 and like all subsequent dams of this century, were carried away from freshets.[6]: 553
Colonel Loammi Baldwin, of Boston, made a survey of the water-power of the Androscoggin River, in Brunswick. In his report, dated November 12, 1835, Baldwin stated that the Androscoggin River discharges more water than any other river in the state of Maine, being equal, at the lowest stage of the water, to more than 4,000 cubic feet (110 m3) per second. According to this report, all the water at Brunswick Falls is 40.83 feet (12.44 m) high, divided at that time by three dams. At the upper dam there was a fall of 11.30 feet (3.44 m), at the middle dam, 14.04 feet (4.28 m) and at the lower dam, 15.49 feet (4.72 m). From the upper to the lower dams, the distance of the run is 1,980 feet (600 m).[6]: 553–554
During the Industrial Revolution, there was a multitude of cotton mills that harnessed the water-power of the falls, the most notable being the Cabot Mill Manufacturing Company.
Brunswick Hydroelectric Plant
| Brunswick Dam | |
|---|---|
 Brunswick Hydroelectric Station, ca. 2022 | |
| Purpose | Flood control and Power |
| Status | Operational |
| Opening date | 1982 |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Gravity dam |
| Brunswick Hydroelectric Station | |
| Operator(s) | |
| Type | Conventional |
| Turbines |
|
| Installed capacity | 20,000 MW |
| Website Brookfield Renewable Energy | |
| |
Sagadahoc Light and Power Company was the first organization to acquire electric power from Brunswick Falls. It's purposes to generate, sell, and distribute electricity for lighting, heating and manufacturing in the towns of Bath and Brunswick. They were acquired by Bath and Brunswick Light & Power Company in 1910, who in turn, was acquired by Central Maine Power on December 31, 1920.[9]
Between 1979 and 1982 construction occurred for the Brunswick Hydroelectric Station, operated by Brookfield Renewable, sending power to Central Maine Power's electrical grid. The dam became the lower most dam on the Androscoggin River at head of tide.[10][9]
Commercial power generation at Unit 1 began in March 1982. In 1982 construction began on Units 2 and 3 of the Brunswick hydroelectric station including a fish ladder. It was completed in May 1983 .[9]
The station has three generators at work for a total capacity of 20,000 megawatts. Generator 1, being the largest has a capacity of 13,000 megawatts and generators 2 and 3 both have a capacity of 3.5 megawatts.[11]
Fishways
Since 1809 when the first cotton mill was erected at the falls, fish have been blocked off by dams from this portion of the Androscoggin River.[12] Salmon, Sturgeon, Alewife and shad were very abundant in the Androscoggin, but their number has greatly diminished during modern times.[6]: 94
In 1871 a substantial stone fishway was made at the middle falls. To construct it, the ledge on the northwest end of the dam was cut through. The fishway was on the Topsham side of the dam, at the lower side. The height of the fall at this time was 18 feet (5.5 m). A year later, a wooden fishway was put in on the lower dam next to Shad Island. These were not the first fishways, as early as 1789 the fish wardens were instructed by the town of Topsham to see that the dams were opened so that fish could pass.[6]: 603–604
While the falls original dams were made from wood and stone, later dams were constructed out of concrete, eliminating the possibility for fish to move upstream. By the 1930s, the Androscoggin's population of sea-run fish was virtually gone, although the Clean Water Act of 1972 helped restore a few species of fish.[13]
In 1982, during the construction of the Brunswick Hydroelectric Dam, a fish ladder, at a cost of US$2,000,000, was built,[9] It was believed that 85,000 American Shad would pass through the ladder each year, however, as reported in 2005, only 0 – 1,100 per year make it up the ladder. Shad, Salmon and Sturgeon are sometimes able to make it up the ladder, but are often beaten or injured along the way.[13][10]
References
- ^ "Brunswick Falls". World Waterfall Database. 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
- ^ a b "Bedrock Geology". Publius Research. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
- ^ Wells, Walter (1868). Report of the Commissioners of the Hydrographic Survey of the State of Maine. University of California Libraries: Owen & Nash, printers to the state. p. 68 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b "Prehistoric Archaeology". Maine Historic Preservation Commission. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
- ^ Fagundes, Nelson J. R.; et al. (2008). "Mitochondrial Population Genomics Supports a Single Pre-Clovis Origin with a Coastal Route for the Peopling of the Americas". American Journal of Human Genetics. 82 (3): 1. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2007.11.013. PMC 2427228. PMID 18313026.
- ^ a b c d e f g Wheeler, George Augustus & Wheeler, Henry Warren (1878). History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine. Harvard Library: A. Mudge & Sons, Printers – via Google Books. p. Inside Front Cover – Pejepscot Historical Society 2nd ed. (1974):
(This book) has long been considered the authoritative text on the three towns through 1878.
- ^ "BRUN-zwik". Publius Research. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
- ^ "From the Falls to the Bay" (PDF). Pejepscot Historical Society. 1980. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Central Maine Power Company Collection, 1883–1965" (PDF). Raymond H. Fogler Library, University of Maine. 2015. p. 11. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
- ^ a b Weaver, Daniel; Brown, Michael (2019). "Observations of American Shad Approaching and Using a Vertical Slot Fishway at the Head‐of‐Tide Brunswick Dam on the Androscoggin River, Maine". American Fisheries Society. 39 (5): 2. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
- ^ "Brunswick". energyjustice.net. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
- ^ Letourneau, Gene (May 19, 1983). "Fishways to Aid Androscoggin, Penobscot". Kennebec Journal. p. 20. Retrieved September 23, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Piper, Jessica (May 9, 2018). "Dam those fish: human-environment interaction on the Androscoggin River". The Bowdoin Orient. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
Further reading
External links
