The
Popham Colony (also known as the
Sagadahoc Colony) was a short-lived
English colonial settlement in
North America that was founded in
1607 and located in the present-day town of
Phippsburg, Maine near the mouth of the
Kennebec River by the proprietary
Virginia Company of Plymouth. It was founded a few months later in the same year as its more successful rival, the
Jamestown Settlement, which was established on
June 14,
1607 by the
Virginia Company of London in present-day
James City County, Virginia, as the first permanent English settlement in the present
United States.
The Popham Colony was the first English colony in the region that would eventually become known as New England. The colony was abandoned after only one year, apparently more due to family changes in the leadership ranks than lack of success in the New World. The loss of life of the colonists in 1607 and 1608 at Popham was far lower than the experience at Jamestown.
The first ship built by the English in the New World was completed during the year of the Popham Colony and was sailed back across the Atlantic Ocean to England. The pinnace, named Virginia of Sagadahoc, was apparently quite seaworthy, and crossed the Atlantic again successfully in 1609 as part of Sir Christopher Newport's 9 vessel Third Supply mission to Jamestown. The tiny Virginia survived a massive three day storm enroute which was thought to have been a hurricane and which wrecked the mission's large new flagship Sea Venture on Bermuda.
The exact site of the Popham Colony was lost until its rediscovery in 1994. Much of this historical location is now part of Maine's Popham Beach State Park.
