Boothbay Harbor, was originally part of the Cape Newagen, founded by the English in 1666. During King Philip’s War the settlement was attacked, burned and resettled shortly afterwards. In 1689 it was destroyed during the King William’s War. It was reestablished 40 years later as Townsend. In 1779 it was a rendezvous point for the American naval fleet. In 1842 it was renamed Boothbay and developed into a fishing center that could house up to 500 ships during inclement weather.
By the time it was incorporated into the town of Boothbay Harbor in 1889, it had a fishery, two marine railways, a fertilizer and lobster canning factories, a fish oil company, a large sawmill, and even the Knickerbocker Ice Company. During World War II, the shipyard built minesweepers for the Navy and parts of the 1956 movie version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's “Carousel” were filmed in Boothbay Harbor.