Brunswick, Maine | ||
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Downtown Brunswick, looking north
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Motto: "Beautifully balanced" | ||
Location in Cumberland County and the state of Maine. |
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Coordinates: 43°54′39″N 69°57′47″W / 43.91083°N 69.96306°WCoordinates: 43°54′39″N 69°57′47″W / 43.91083°N 69.96306°W | ||
Country | United States | |
State | Maine | |
County | Cumberland | |
Settled | 1628 | |
Incorporated (town) | 1739 | |
Area | ||
• Total | 54.34 sq mi (140.74 km2) | |
• Land | 46.73 sq mi (121.03 km2) | |
• Water | 7.61 sq mi (19.71 km2) | |
Population (2010) | ||
• Total | 20,278 | |
• Estimate (2012) | 20,329 | |
• Density | 433.9/sq mi (167.5/km2) | |
Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) | |
• Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) | |
ZIP code | 04011 | |
Website | www |
Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County in southern Maine, United States. The population was 20,278 at the 2010 United States Census. Part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, The Theater Project, and the Maine State Music Theatre. It is also home to Mid Coast Hospital, one of Maine's newest full-service hospitals; and Parkview Adventist Medical Center that closed in 2015 after filing for bankruptcy. It was home to Naval Air Station Brunswick which was permanently closed on May 31, 2011.
Settled in 1628 by Thomas Purchase and other fishermen, the area was called by its Indian name, Pejepscot, meaning "the long, rocky rapids part [of the river]". In 1639, Purchase placed his settlement under protection of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. During King Philip's War in 1676, Pejepscot was burned and abandoned, although a garrison called Fort Andros was built on the ruins during King William's War. During the war, in Major Benjamin Church's second expedition a year later, he arrived on 11 September 1690 with 300 men at Casco Bay. He went up the Androscoggin River to the English Fort Pejepscot (present day Brunswick, Maine). From there he went 40 miles up-river and attacked a native village. Three or four native men were shot in retreat; when Church discovered 5 English captives in the wigwams, six or seven prisoners were butchered as an example; and nine prisoners were taken. A few days later, in retaliation, the natives attacked Church at Cape Elizabeth on Purpooduc Point, killing 7 of his men and wounding 24 others. On September 26, Church returned to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.