Popham Colony

Popham Colony was an English colonial settlement established at the mouth of the Kennebec River in what is now Phippsburg, Maine in 1607. It represents one of the earliest English attempts to found a permanent presence in New England.

Colonists constructed a small seagoing pinnace known as the Virginia while at the site; the settlement faced supply difficulties and leadership setbacks and was abandoned by 1608. The short-lived colony is chiefly remembered for the Virginia and for its place in early English colonial efforts.

Archaeological remains of the settlement have been investigated and the site is interpreted for visitors with signage and displays that explain the colony’s foundations and excavated features. The location lies on the Atlantic coast at the Kennebec River mouth and is near other historic coastal forts and sites.

The Popham Colony site sits on Maine’s southern coast at the Kennebec River entrance near Phippsburg, roughly 40 miles northeast of the Portland metropolitan area by road.

• Founding and abandonment: Established in 1607 as one of England's earliest attempts at a permanent North American colony, it was abandoned by 1608.
• Visitor information: Archaeological traces and interpretive signage mark the site today; the early pinnace built by the colonists is a central element of the site's history and public interpretation.

What to See #

• Colony archaeological area: Contains the primary archaeological footprint of the 1607-1608 colony where foundation trenches and artifact concentrations have been recorded and interpreted by archaeologists.
• Virginia pinnace association: Site associated with the pinnace Virginia, which colonists built locally in 1607-1608 and which is often referenced in interpretive displays and reconstructions about the settlement.