BOOTHBAY HARBOR

town, Lincoln county, southern Maine, U.S. It lies on a peninsula of the Atlantic coast between the Sheepscot and Damariscotta rivers, 59 miles (95 km) east-northeast of Portland. The town includes the communities of Boothbay Harbor, Bayville, and West Boothbay Harbor. Originally part of Boothbay (supposedly settled in 1630), it was set off and incorporated in 1889 and developed as a trading and shipbuilding centre. Boothbay Harbor is now the pivot of a resort and fishing area. Light manufactures include canvas goods, boats, and food products. There are railway and historical-society museums in the town, and the Sherman Zwicker, a Grand Banks fishing schooner, is preserved as a museum. The Marine Sciences Laboratory of the Maine Department of Marine Resources is 3 miles (5 km) west at McKown Point. Old schooners sail into the harbour for the annual Windjammer Days (late June). Area 6 square miles (15 square km). Pop. (1990) 2,347; (1996 est.) 2,227.