Friends of Merrymeeting Bay’s final presentation of its 27th annual Winter Speaker Series, Fort Western on the Kennebec, 1628-1919 features Linda Novak, director of Old Fort Western.

This event is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 8. Winter Speaker Series presentations are held via Zoom and accessible at fomb.org.

Fort Western, near the bank of the Kennebec River in Augusta, is best known as a military installation during the French and Indian War. Still, its history is much more expansive, and it played a significant role in Maine from the 17th to 20th centuries, according to a news release from the Friends.

People can learn how the 1628 Trading Post at Cushnoc and the Plimouth Patent evolved into the Kennebec Proprietors and how the Kennebec Proprietors propositioned Massachusetts Gov. William Shirley to build the fort in 1754. They can learn how, after Captain Howard bought the Fort in 1767, his sons Samuel and William repurposed it into a home and store.

Novak spent 11 years in Virginia and worked for the James River Institute of Archaeology. She then joined Colonial Williamsburg as assistant conservator and then assistant curator of archaeology before moving back to Maine. In 2010 she was hired as Director and Curator of Old Fort Western.

For more information, contact the organization at 207-666-3372 or edfomb@comcast.net.

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