Activity

Maine shipbuilding legacy: Began in 1607 at the Popham Colony at the mouth of the Kennebec River. At the same time as the Jamestown colony in Virgina, the Plymouth Company sent two ships to establish a colony in northern Virginia (soon to be called New England). The colony only lasted 14 months and was disbanded due to death in the leadership, a harsh winter, and difficulties with the native people. However, one of its accomplishments was that within this colony the 30 ton pinnace Virginia was built. When the colony was abandoned in late 1608, Virginia sailed to England carrying some of the colonists. This makes her the first English ocean-going vessel built in the Americas.