AUGUSTA, Maine, city, county-seat of Kennebec County and capital of the State, on the Kennebec River, 40 miles above its mouth, at the head of tidal navigation, and on the Maine Central Railroad, 63 miles northeast of Portland. It is situated on both sides of the Kennebec, mainly on thf right or west bank, and some portion of it, including much of the residential section, occupies an elevation con siderably above the river, along which the principal business part of the city extends. The Augusta, Winthrop & Gardiner Electric Railway connects the city with neighboring places, and its water communications afford excellent facilities for travel and trade. The State Capitol is a handsome granite building, for which the stone was quarried from the surrounding hills. It stands on high ground overlooking a wide extent of pleasant country. Among other noteworthy buildings are those of the Maine Insane Hospital, the City Hos pital, the public library, the county buildings and the United States arsenal. The churches include those of the Congregationalists, Epis copalians, Free Baptists, Colonist Baptists, Christians, Universalists, Unitarians, Metho dists, Roman Catholics and the People's Church. The public schools include all grades from the primary to the high school. In the capitol are the State library, a notable collec tion of portraits of American statesmen, and in the rotunda, an impressive array of the Civil War battle flags of Maine soldiers. In the principal park is a soldiers and sailors' monument. by reason of its rail road and river facilities, is the trade centre of a large region, and the water-power furnished by the Kennebec, across which, just above the city, extends a dam nearly 1,000 feet in length affords abundant means for manufacturing.
The cotton factories here employ about 1,100 persons; shoe manufactory, 300; pulp mill, 250; lumber mill, 100; sash and blind factory, 75; and besides various smaller establishments the city has publishing houses in which some 400 persons are employed. The United States census of manufactures for 1914 reported 39 establishments of factory grade, employing 2,379 persons, of whom 2,231 were wage earners, receiving $1,071,000 annually in wages. The aggregate capital invested was $5,069,000, and the year's output was valued at $4,918,000: of this, $1,938,000 was the value added by in ufacture. There are two national banks n the city, with a combined capital of $350,000, a trust company having a capital of- $100,000, and two savings banks. The deposits of these institutions aggregate $11,000,000. The city is governed by a mayor and a city council, a body consisting of boards of aldermen and common council, elected by the people. Augusta was first permanently settled in 1754 by colonists from Massachusetts; was incorporated under the name of Hallowell in 1771- ' and upon the setting off of Hallowell in 1797 became a sepa rate town. In 1831 it became the capital of the State, and has been the scene of many im portant political events. It received a city charter in 1849. Its population in 1900 was 11,683; in 1910 it was 13,211; in 1914, 14,000. The employees of the cotton factories are mostly French Canadians, the other inhabit ants chiefly natives. Consult North,