Short History of West Bath
West Bath became a town in 1844. Prior to that, Bath and West Bath were connected, as one town - known as Long Reach, and later Bath. Bath used to be part of Georgetown. In 1791, Bath/West Bath split off from Georgetown.
In 1800, the population of Bath/West Bath was about 1200 people, compared with nearly 1800 in West Bath alone today. Families owned large tracts of land, mostly farmland, and, for the most part, homes were far apart from each other.
The first populated area of West Bath/Bath was the Mill Cove district. It was the "downtown" of the time. Joseph Berry had mills (saw and grist), a blockhouse and a tavern here as early as 1739. Most other early settlers came to the same area, following Berry and his enterprises. Among them were : the Ring family (now Marilyn Bruce's house) , although there are still ; the Brown family (descended to Hennessey's today); the Mitchell family (descended to Wilbert Small's family); Rev. Francis Winter (now the Ireland farm), the first settled minister who served the meeting house at Witch Spring; Lombard family (Rufus who was captured by the Indians and escaped on ice skates and his wife, Sarah, the first midwife/doctor in the area), now the Galleher house.
In the Foster's Point area, the early families were named Coombs, Higgins, Holbrook, and Trufant. Many of these families still have descendants in the area.
Much of the travel back then was by water, as well as horse and buggy. Several remaining homes still have their front doors facing nearby bodies of water. The Winter/ Ireland farm and the Hallo’s house on Dam Cove come to mind. Water access is why most of the homes were built along various areas of the New Meadows River. (which was originally named the Steven's River after Thomas Stevens who settled at the head of the river just above today’s current West Bath school). Quaker Point, Brigham's Cove, Birch Point, etc. all had early dwellings because of the proximity to the water.
Most of the early business in West Bath focused on the mills, farming, and trading. Most of the homes were good-sized because there were larger families back then and because it wasn't unusual for a couple of generations to share the same house. Some of the homes had hidden rooms or stairways because, in the early days, there was always the danger of Indian raids.
Several local men were taken in raids; some escaped (like Samuel Lombard), some didn't. There is the story about Joseph Berry setting up a blunderbuss to protect his mills because of Indians lurking about the area. The early homes had root cellars because refrigerators hadn't been invented. Families grew large gardens and hunted for most of their food.
The Winnegance Carrying Place near the town line between West Bath and Phippsburg was used by the Native Americans to travel between Winnegance Creek and the New Meadows River. Roads have been relocated over the years. There was a ferry across New Meadows before bridges were built in several areas.About West Bath Schools.
In the early days, West Bath had 5 school districts. They were: Mill Cove (Littlefield School – our only remaining one-room school house, which has been saved and recently restored); White's (Lowell School); Foster's Point; Birch Point (Campbell's Pond); and Winnegance (which later seceded to Bath).
The current West Bath School was officially opened in 1959, for grades 1 through 8. There were about 140 students, a principal who also taught 8th grade, and 5 other teachers. In the late 1980’, the school was expanded to what it is today. We have records including a news article about the dedication of the new school; an early photo of from 1959; a list of the class breakdown and teachers for the first year; and a floor plan that shows what it was when it was first built and an addition in the 1980s.