Presumpscott River

The Presumpscott River is one of Maine's largest rivers. It is 25.8 miles long. Flowing from Sebago Lake to the sea at Casco Bay, it is the main outlet of Sebago Lake. It naturally divides the towns of Gorham and Windham.

The river provided an early transportation corridor and reliable water power for industrial development.

A series of dams and locks were completed in 1830 to form the Cumberland and Oxford Canal. Read about the Cumberland and Oxford

This text is from a website by Mrs Morse, a WIndham Primary School teacher:

The Cumberland and Oxford Canal is a hand-dug waterway that provided a safe and fairly inexpensive method of transportation from the ocean to fifty miles inland. It had 27 locks and 1 aqueduct. It was about 20 miles long. About 150 heavily loaded barges were horse-drawn up and down the river on their way from the ocean to Harrison and back. These barges carried farm products, lumber, kegs of black powder from Gambo, sugar, rum, molasses from the West Indies, and manufactured clothing.