Gazetteer of the State of Maine With Numerous Illustrations, by Geo. J. Varney

BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY B. B. RUSSELL, 57 CORNHILL. 1882. Public domain image from

166    GAZETTEER    OF    MAINE.

The village of Castine occupies a commanding position on the
eastern side of the peninsula, which gradually ascends from the shore
to the height of 217 feet. On the north the shore is more precipitous.

At the summit is a rectangular line of hillocks, the remains of Fort
pi    George. On the southward shore below are the nearly effaced ruins

of Castine’s fort, built as early, probably, as 1626; and at several
ijj    points are the remains of batteries erected during the Revolution. The

M    lighthouse and an old block-house are also points to be noted. The

c    whole southward side of the peninsula formerly abounded in ancient

relics, articles of Indian manufacture, cannon balls, shells, etc. There
is an orchard in town, planted in 1784, which still bears good fruit.

•uj.    The streets of the village are set with shade trees of all ages, and the

*;    buildings are in good repair. Many of the dwellings are large and old,

h    and there is an air of elegance and repose. Before it spreads out the

|\    grand harbor, dotted with islands. The depth of the water and the

movement of the tide, make it an open harbor for largo vessels at all
seasons, with rare exceptions. The business is chiefly related to the
fisheries. There is one saw-mill and one grist-mill, a large brickyard,
p    two canning-factories for putting up lobsters, clams and other fish; a

il    rope-walk, and a cod and mackerel line factory,—the latter doing a

11    business of $20,000 annually. At the head of the peninsula is a light-

i    house of stone, having a flashing, white light. For a quiet sum-

mer resort, Castine is equal to any point on the coast. The climate
is very healthy, and old people abound. It is now made the terminus
of numerous summer excursions; and picnicing parties find it a very
convenient and attractive locality.

The history of Castine goes back to the earliest settlement of our
coast. The French explorer, Thevet, who visited the Penobscot in
1555, refers to an old French fort in this vicinity. Its neighborhood
was explored by James Rosier in 1605 ; and in 1626 a trading house
was established here by Isaac Allerton, under the direction of the
Pjj    Plymouth colony of Massachusetts. In 1632, the house was surprised

and rifled hy the French under Rosillon. Having been re-stocked, in
1635 it was attacked and occupied by another Frenchman, D’Aulney,

I};    deputy governor in Acadia. From 1643 to 1651, it was sometimes the

|{|[    scene of the conflict waged between D’Auiney and La Tour, rival

|jl    proprietors, the first a Romanist, the latter nominally a Huguenot. In

i !    1648 Friar Leo laid the cornerstone of a Capuchin chapel. The place

Jji *    was taken by the English again in 1654. In 1667 Baron Castine

^F \    arrived upon Penobscot Bay, the region being then known as Pent i-

goet; and in 1670 Fort Pentagoet, at what is now Castine, was
y'    was formally surrendered by Colonel Temple to Grandfontaine, who

‘ p    represented the French government. In 1673, the place had 31 white    L

inhabitants ; and the next year it was taken by a Flemish vessel com-
- j    manded by Captain Jurriaen Aernoots.

_f |    Yet    in    1687,    we    again find Castine in possession, when he was noti-

' '    fied by the Government of New England to surrender the place to

them. Two years later, it is said this peninsula was the scene of
, }|J    the torture of Thomas Gyles by the Indians. The locality began about

>    this time to be called Biguaduce, later, Bagaduce, from Marche-JBig-

j.    uatiis, an Indian term supposed to mean “uogood cove.” Sir Wil-

t il    liam Phips took possession of the place in 1690. In 1693 Castine was

^r J    again in possession, and temporarily gave in his adhesion to tbe Eng-

d s    .

■1    I