Overview:
The Belfast Area is rich in history dating back more than 200 years. In 1765, John Mitchell was making a voyage from Boston to points east and was captivated by the wilderness at the head of Penobscot Bay. He decided the area would be ideal for a settlement. Mitchell, a resident of Londonderry, New Hampshire along with 35 friends, decided to relocate to the area. Many of the founding fathers wanted to name this new settlement Londonderry, but a strong-willed settler, John Miller of Belfast, Ireland, made a protest and a coin was flipped. Belfast won. The harbor and waterfront were the hub of commercial activity. The Belfast area had many active shipyards. Searsport alone, just to the north of Belfast, was home to eleven yards and to more shipmasters than any other town in America. Between 1810 and 1890, more than 200 ships slid down the ways in Searsport and in 1887 alone, more than 1,200 vessels arrived in local ports... |
