Kennebec River

River flowing mainly south from Moosehead Lake in west-central Maine to the Atlantic Ocean; length 242 km/150 mi. In the 18th century, the banks of the Kennebec became an important source of timber, providing in particular mast pines for the Royal Navy.

About 40 km/25 mi below Augusta, the Kennebec receives the Androscoggin River to form Merrymeeting Bay, then flows past Bath to Popham Beach and the Gulf of Maine. The river has hydroelectric plants at Bingham, Skowhegan, Waterville, Augusta, and Gardiner, but its industrial role is today much reduced. Samuel de Champlain was the first European to explore the Kennebec in 1606. In 1775, Benedict Arnold journeyed up the river in an ill-fated attempt to capture Québec from the British.