Augusta

Augusta, city, capital of Maine, United States. Government services, tourism, and the manufacture of computer products, paper products, and fabricated steel are economically important. Of interest is the State House, designed by Charles Bulfinch and completed in 1832, and the University of Maine at Augusta (1965).

The community was founded in 1628 as a trading post by members of the Plymouth Colony of Massachusetts. Fort Western, the first permanent structure here, was used as a supply base during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). Augusta has been known as Cushnoc or Koussinoc (1625-1771); Hallowell (1771-1797); and Harrington (1797). The present name, adopted in late 1797, honours Pamela Augusta Dearborn, daughter of Henry Dearborn, a soldier in the American War of Independence and a representative of the District of Maine in the Congress of the United States. In 1832 Augusta replaced Portland as the state capital. Population (1980) 21,819; (1990) 21,325.