It includes the villages of South Windham and North Windham. Landmarks include Cumberland and Oxford Canal, Great Falls Historic District and Babb's Bridge. Windham is the birthplace of John Albion Andrew, massachusetts governor during the Civil War.
Windham, Maine gifts and souvenirs: 35 designs made from Windham's own map, landmarks and history, from $10 to $99. Printed to order and shipped free in the USA.
| Popular | Price |
|---|---|
| Windham Hometown Ornament | $23 |
| Windham Landmarks Photo Poster | from $40 |
| Windham Vintage Travel Poster | from $40 |
| Windham Varsity Crewneck | from $57 |
| Windham Est. Tee | from $33 |
| Windham Town Line Mug | from $26 |
Ceramic keepsake, gold ribbon, in 3 styles
Nine local landmarks, archival matte
Its landmark photo in a classic travel-poster layout
A local landmark photo as a gallery print
Classic large-letter postcard art, filled with local photos
Six local landmarks as instant photos on kraft paper
The town's story in dates, from its own records, for home or classroom
Map of local landmarks, washable fabric
Heavy-blend fleece, street map printed on the back
Red heavy-blend crewneck, knit-stitch town print
Soft Bella+Canvas jersey
Kids' Bella+Canvas jersey, youth sizes
Bella+Canvas toddler jersey
Bella+Canvas baby bodysuit
Large-letter postcard art filled with local photos
Glossy ceramic, dishwasher safe
Large-letter postcard art filled with local photos, 11 oz ceramic
Weatherproof, for the front walk
24″×16″, printed coir-look fibers, rubber back
12″×12″ printed wood, ready to hang
Soft-touch, zip cover
A local landmark photo with the town name, 18″×18″
Sturdy all-over-print tote
Large-letter postcard art on a sturdy tote
Foam-front trucker, printed (not embroidered) with local photos
Glossy top, cork back
Soft fleece, 50″×60″
Six local landmarks as instant photos, soft fleece 50″×60″
20 oz, double-wall stainless
6″×4″ postcard, glossy front
6″×4″ postcard, glossy front
6″×4″ postcard, glossy front
6″×4″ postcard, glossy front
6″×4″ postcard, glossy front
6″×4″ postcard, glossy front
Population 2010: 17,001 → 2020: 18,434
From Wikidata (CC0).
The township was granted in 1734 by the Massachusetts General Court to Abraham Howard, Joseph Blaney and 58 others from Marblehead, Massachusetts. In 1737, New Marblehead Plantation was settled by Captain Thomas Chute. By order of the Massachusetts General Court, a fort was built in spring of 1744 on a hill in the southern part of town near the early center of settlement to offer protection during King George's War. A 50-foot square blockhouse, constructed of 12-inch thick hewn hemlock had an overhanging second story, with firing ports and two swivel guns in watch posts on diagonal corners. The blockhouse was surrounded by a stockade wall of 12-inch diameter log posts 16 feet long. The single gate through the stockade wall was covered by a 4.2-inch (11 cm) bore 9-pounder cannon within the blockhouse.
What became the town of Windham was the realm of the Rockameecook band of Sokoki who fought to retain their homes through the French and Indian Wars. The town's European inhabitants took shelter in the stockade between 1745 and 1751. Indian chief Polin was killed during the last attack on the town on May 14, 1756. New Marblehead Plantation was incorporated on June 12, 1762, as Windham, named for Wymondham in Norfolk, England. Windham Minutemen marched to Portland in response to the Burning of Falmouth on October 18, 1775, and sixteen men were drafted from the town for the Penobscot Expedition. Thirteen Windham men are reported as being members of the Continental Army with George Washington's American Revolutionary War winter encampment at Valley Forge. Windham's nine-pounder cannon and one swivel gun from the stockade blockhouse were loaned to Portland in 1775. Portland had refused to surrender these guns to Captain Henry Mowat as he demanded before he burned the town; and they were placed aboard the privateer Reprieve in 1776.
Most of the early inhabitants were farmers, who found the soil loamy and easily worked. Early subdivision of land was in strips perpendicular to the Presumpscot River and Pleasant River. Each landowner cleared the river floodplain for cropland and had river access for transportation to the coast until River Road and Old Gray Road (United States Route 202) were built linking connected farm buildings on high ground adjacent to the floodplain. Windham provided numerous sites for water power, and as early as 1738 a mill was erected at Mallison Falls. Edmund Fowler and Lester Laflin began manufacturing gunpowder at Gambo Falls (near Newhall) in 1817.
The Cumberland and Oxford Canal opened in 1832, carrying goods along the Presumpscot River between Sebago Lake and Portland. Population increased along the Presumpscot River as goods manufactured by river water power could be transported to outside markets. In 1859, when Windham's population was 2,380, it had eight sawmills, a corn and flour mill, two shingle mills, a fulling mill, two carding mills, a woolen textile factory, a barrel factory, a chair stuff factory, the gunpowder factory and two tanneries. Oriental Powder Company became the largest gunpowder factory in Maine, and remained in operation until 1905, providing rock blasting powder, gunpowder for belligerents in the Crimean War, and 25 percent of the Union gunpowder supply for the Civil War. A charcoal house, saltpeter refinery, mills, and storehouses were separated along a mile of both banks of the Presumpscot River upstream of Gambo to minimize damage during infrequent explosions.
The canal fell into disuse after the Portland and Ogdensburg Railway was completed through South Windham and Newhall in 1875. Maine Central Railroad leased the railway as their Mountain Division in 1888. Availability of year-round transportation encouraged C.A. Brown and Company to build a large brick wood-paper board factory at South Windham in 1875. Androscoggin Pulp Company purchased the factory, and the industrial village of South Windham developed around the pulp mill. By 1886, the town also produced felt, boots and shoes, carriages, harness, coffins, clothing and wooden ware. On April 4, 1919, the legislature passed an act creating the Reformatory for Men at South Windham. It is now the Maine Correctional Center, a minimum to medium security facility for men and women.
Designation of the transcontinental Roosevelt Trail in 1919 (identified as United States Route 302 since 1935) encouraged increasing numbers of automobile tourists to drive through North Windham. Boody's store was built on the northern corner of the intersection of the Roosevelt Trail and Maine State Route 115 to sell grain, groceries, and hardware. The crossroads village of North Windham has expanded into the commercial center of town through increasing automobile use by Sebago Lake vacationers and suburban Portland commuters.
Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Windham, Maine, revision 1379648614 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
We share a part of every Windham sale with local partners, and we'd love to print from your collection. Old photographs, maps and postcards make the best keepsakes.
Partner with usA favorite landmark, your street, a school or team, an anniversary gift, a different product. Tell us and we'll get back to you by email.
7 free coloring pages of Windham, each traced from a photo of a local landmark. Print them at home, at school or for story hour.
Windham's population was 18,434 in the 2020 U.S. Census, up from 17,001 in 2010.
Babb's Bridge
Cumberland and Oxford Canal
Pleasant River
Great Falls Historic District