Waterville

Waterville, a city of Kennebec county, Maine, U.S.A., on the Kennebec river, 19 m. above Augusta. Pop. (190o) 9477, of whom 2087 were foreign-born; (1910 census) 11,458. It is served by the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington railway, and two lines of the Maine Central railroad. The Ticonic Falls in the river afford excellent water-power, which is used in the manufacture of cotton and woollen goods, &c. In Winslow (pop. in 1900, 2277), on the opposite side of the river and connected by bridges with Waterville, are large paper and pulp mills. Waterville has a Carnegie library and is the seat of Colby College (Baptist), which was incorporated as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution in 1813, was renamed Waterville College in 1821, was named Colby University in 1867, in honour of Gardner Colby (1810-1879), a liberal benefactor, and received its present name in 1899. Since 1871 women have been admitted on the same terms as men. In 1910 the college library contained 51,000 volumes. Waterville was settled about the middle of the 18th century. It was a part of the township of Winslow from 1771 to 1802, when it was incorporated as a separate township. It was first chartered as a city in 1883.