The Trading Post at Cushnoc 1628-1649
The area known as Cushnoc on the Kennebec River (now Augusta) was an important strategic location for early peoples of the Kennebec Valley. It became an essential part of the trade route network of the Abenaki because it is where tidal water meets the river current. In 1628, the Plymouth Colony built and established a trading post on the bank of the Kennebec River at Cushnoc. This trading post quickly became the center of the fur trade in the Kennebec Valley for the Plymouth Colony and helped the Pilgrims pay off their debt to their London backers. The fur trade peaked in 1634 and then steadily declined until 1654, when evidence suggests the trading post was leased out. In 1676, the remains of the trading post were reported burned during King Philip’s War, and the Kennebec Valley was depopulated of English settlements.