Hallowell is a city in Kennebec County, incorporated as a town on April 26, 1771 and as a city on February 17, 1852.
It was named for Benjamin Hallowell, a wealthy Boston merchant who was a proprietor of the Plymouth or Kennebec Patent. Originally it included the present Augusta, Chelsea, and part of Manchester.
Known as Bombahook, Medumcook, Keedumcook, but mostly as the Hook, the origins of the village name is unclear, though the Kennebec River hooks or curves here. According to Colonel William Lithgow in his 1767 deposition, the Indians called it Keedumcook because the river was very shoal there and from the gravel and sand that appeared almost across the river at low water. (Eckstorm, p. 144)
The first settler arrived in 1762 as the proprietors offered land to colonize the area. Ephraim Ballard arrived in 1776 and his wife Martha the following year.
The city, Maine's smallest in area, has a vital downtown with antique and book shops, along with restaurants.
