FRIENDSHIP HOMES: IF THESE HOUSES COULD TALK

The incorporation of Friendship in 1807 was not its beginning. That occurred over a period six decades earlier. The Muscongus Patent (originally granted in 1630 and later better known as the Waldo Patent) contained a million acres between the Medomak River and Penobscot Bay, and by 1735 it was under the control of Samuel Waldo. In order to capitalize on its natural resources, Waldo had to establish lasting settlements. To do this, he offered groups of settlers incentives to relocate to coastal Maine. On the peninsula that is now Friendship, he established the Meduncook Plantation. On its rocky coast he settled twenty or so families from southern New England. Although the general perception is that early coastal settlers initially claimed these islands, harbors, and coves becaused they desired the best fishing grounds, this is, in part at least, a misconception. Overwhelmingly, the new settlers had been farmers in Massachusetts, and after five generations of growth in their hometowns, there was little land left for them to work. It was only after they realized that the coastal Maine land was rocky and infertile that they turned to fishing. Thus began the seafaring history of Friendship, Maine, so well-known for its boats. Paperback 148 Pages