1880.Ī county-wide connection to the main line of the Maine Central Railroad at Burnham, 33 miles (53 km) inland from Belfast, was established by the largely city-owned Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad with its opening in 1871. The Belfast rail yard in 1875 MEC-built station house c. Wooden ship construction would fade about 1900, but with the advent of refrigeration, the local economy shifted to harvesting seafood, including lobsters, scallops, sardines, herrings and mackerel for the Boston and New York markets. Shipbuilders became wealthy, and built the Federal, Greek Revival and Italianate mansions and civic architecture for which the city is noted, including the 1818 First Church by master-builder Samuel French, and the 1857 Custom House and Post Office by noted architect Ammi B. Materials for wooden boat construction were shipped down the Penobscot River from Bangor, the lumber capital of North America during the later 19th century. It developed into a shipbuilding center, producing hundreds of three, four and five masted schooners. Belfast was incorporated on August 17, 1850, as a city, the 8th in Maine, adopting its charter on April 3, 1852. It was a port of entry, and designated county seat of Waldo County in 1827, although land would be set off in 1845 to form part of Searsport. įollowing the war, the seaport rebuilt and thrived. The British military burned Belfast in 1779, then held it for five days in September 1814 during the War of 1812. The village was mostly abandoned during the Revolution while British forces occupied Bagaduce (now Castine). Renamed Belfast after Belfast, Northern Ireland, it was first settled in 1770, and incorporated as a town in 1773. Waldo died in 1759, and his heirs would sell the plantation of Passagassawakeag (named after its river) to 35 Scots-Irish proprietors from Londonderry, New Hampshire. About 1720, General Samuel Waldo of Boston bought the Muscongus Patent, which had evolved into outright ownership of the land, and was thereafter known as the Waldo Patent. In 1630, it became part of the Muscongus Patent, which granted rights for English trading posts with the Native Americans, especially for the lucrative fur trade. The area was once territory of the Penobscot tribe of Abenaki Native Americans, which each summer visited the seashore to hunt for fish, shellfish and seafowl. Its seaport has a wealth of antique architecture in several historic districts, and remains popular with tourists. Belfast is the county seat of Waldo County. Located at the mouth of the Passagassawakeag River estuary on Belfast Bay and Penobscot Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 6,938. Belfast is a city in Waldo County, Maine, United States.
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