Presenter: Katharine Atwood Friends of the Presumpscot River
Talk Description: This Presentation will be about the Presumpscot River. It runs 27 miles from Sebago Lake to the Sea. Running through the most populus center of the state it has long been both ignored and shunned. Home to the first mills it has been polluted by residential and industrial waste for decades. It has been in the 1900's it has been give the auspisious designation most dammed river in the country by the US Corp of Engineers due to the high percentage of its length under impoundment. Much work has been done in its restoration and now one hundred years later the Friends of the Presumpscot River seek to claim a new designation, most freed river in the country. Presumpscot is the Wabenaki word for \many falls or rough places\, the river once held 13 named falls and many rapids, of those only three today can be found. Two of which were reborn due to recent dam removals. Over half of the river has been restored yet there is much work to be done. This talk will introduce the Presumpscot as a river once vanished beneath the concrete slabs and backwaters of the many dams that have long choked its waters. The Presumpscot River has for well over a hundred years been hidden and unknown until in the summer of 2024, due to a dam failure, the river long lost, returned and for a brief few months flowed free again. Hear the inspiring story of this lost river found, and discover the work underway to free the river once and for all.
| Show Name | Show Stage/Venue | Show Type | Show Date | Show Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Presumpscot: Maine's Lost River |
Yoga and Railcar Speakers Tent |
and Education ; and Education |
Sat 20 Sep 2025 4:00 PM to 4:50 PM |
Presenter: Katharine Atwood Friends of the Presumpscot River Talk Description: This Presentation will be about the Presumpscot River. It runs 27 miles from Sebago Lake to the Sea. Running through the most populus center of the state it has long been both ignored and shunned. Home to the first mills it has been polluted by residential and industrial waste for decades. It has been in the 1900's it has been give the auspisious designation most dammed river in the country by the US Corp of Engineers due to the high percentage of its length under impoundment. Much work has been done in its restoration and now one hundred years later the Friends of the Presumpscot River seek to claim a new designation, most freed river in the country. Presumpscot is the Wabenaki word for \many falls or rough places\, the river once held 13 named falls and many rapids, of those only three today can be found. Two of which were reborn due to recent dam removals. Over half of the river has been restored yet there is much work to be done. This talk will introduce the Presumpscot as a river once vanished beneath the concrete slabs and backwaters of the many dams that have long choked its waters. The Presumpscot River has for well over a hundred years been hidden and unknown until in the summer of 2024, due to a dam failure, the river long lost, returned and for a brief few months flowed free again. Hear the inspiring story of this lost river found, and discover the work underway to free the river once and for all. |
| Presumpscot: Maine's Lost River |
Yoga and Railcar Speakers Tent |
and Education ; and Education |
Sun 21 Sep 2025 3:00 PM to 3:50 PM |
Presenter: Katharine Atwood Friends of the Presumpscot River Talk Description: This Presentation will be about the Presumpscot River. It runs 27 miles from Sebago Lake to the Sea. Running through the most populus center of the state it has long been both ignored and shunned. Home to the first mills it has been polluted by residential and industrial waste for decades. It has been in the 1900's it has been give the auspisious designation most dammed river in the country by the US Corp of Engineers due to the high percentage of its length under impoundment. Much work has been done in its restoration and now one hundred years later the Friends of the Presumpscot River seek to claim a new designation, most freed river in the country. Presumpscot is the Wabenaki word for \many falls or rough places\, the river once held 13 named falls and many rapids, of those only three today can be found. Two of which were reborn due to recent dam removals. Over half of the river has been restored yet there is much work to be done. This talk will introduce the Presumpscot as a river once vanished beneath the concrete slabs and backwaters of the many dams that have long choked its waters. The Presumpscot River has for well over a hundred years been hidden and unknown until in the summer of 2024, due to a dam failure, the river long lost, returned and for a brief few months flowed free again. Hear the inspiring story of this lost river found, and discover the work underway to free the river once and for all. |
