Dresden has long been known as a duck hunter's paradise as it borders Merrymeeting Bay, the Kennebec and Eastern Rivers, all in the Eastern Flyway. There is good deer hunting in the fall and ice fishing and smelting all winter from shacks scattered along the rivers and bay. Farms and orchards abound in this fertile river basin. The town has had a lively past of great historical interest. The Pilgrims came here to trade with the Indians for furs to send to England to pay their debts. Settlers from France and Germany came in the eighteenth century. In 1760 Lincoln County was established and a Court House built at Pownalborough (now Dresden), named for Thomas Pownal the Royal Governor in Boston. Court was held here until 1794 when they were moved to Wiscasset the new shire town. The Court Room was on the second floor, and here came John Adams and other famous lawyers and judges of the day. It was also a tavern for the people who came great distances by water and overland. The Pownalborough Court House, largely restored to its original condition and seldom is seen such fine pine paneling, huge beams and great fireplaces, is open to the public, July and August, Wednesday through Sunday, 10-4.
Dresden was famous again in mid-nineteenth century when Kennebec River ice was shipped all over the world. The largest ice houses on the river were at Cedar Grove, one of Dresden's two villages. The other, Dresden Mills, is on the Eastern River, and has an interesting old church, St. John's (Episcopal), built in 1818.
Link to official Dresden website: www.townofdresden.com
Town of Dresden - 534 Gardiner Road, PO Box 30, Dresden, ME 04342-0030
207-737-4335 (voice), 207-737-2191 (fax)
