Head of Falls

This is a charming city park, with several intriguing sculptures reflecting the city’s past, as well as a granite amphitheater and information panels with lots of interesting history. From the main manicured park area, where there’s a paved path and benches, you can venture farther field by following a rougher path for about a half mile up river, or cross the historic footbridge.

The Two Cent pedestrian bridge was constructed in 1902 (after the first one washed away) to “provide nearby workers with easy access to both sides of the river…The bridge stands as the last surviving toll footbridge in America.”

The panels explain that human activity in this area likely began with the Canibas tribe of the Abenaki, who established the community of Taconnet Falls here (later Ticonic Falls), a vital trading center until its destruction by the British in 1692. Taconnet is an Abekanki word meaning “a place to cross,” and the settlement here was the second largest Native one in Maine at the time of the first European visitors.

The village was located on the eastern shore, and the Canibas burial ground was on the western side of the river, roughly between today’s Temple Street and the Hathaway Mill complex. Three other big Abenaki communities flourished along the Kennebec River before the Europeans arrived — where Richmond, Augusta, and Madison are today. The name Kennebec comes from the Abenaki word Kinipek, referring to the quiet waters of the river.

In the late 19th century, the city says that this site “transformed into an industrial hub, housing water-powered mills and the Waterville Iron Works.” French Canadians arrived to work in the mills, followed by a wave of Lebanese immigrants.

Directions: The park’s access road is off Front Street, directly opposite Temple Street.