Rebuilt in 1903, it would be called the Two Cent Bridge because of its toll. mills, but in less than a year was carried away by the highest river level since 1832. The iron Waterville-Winslow Footbridge opened in 1901, as a means for Waterville residents to commute to Winslow for work in the Hollingsworth & Whitney Co. Lockwood Mills survived until the mid-1950s. A second mill was added, and by 1900 the firm dominated the riverfront and employed 1,300 workers. After a change of ownership in 1873, the company began construction on what would become the Lockwood Manufacturing Company, a cotton textile plant. The Ticonic Water Power & Manufacturing Company was formed in 1866 and soon built a dam across the Kennebec. Waterville was incorporated as a city on January 12, 1888. West Waterville (renamed Oakland) was set off as a town in 1873.
It would become part of the Maine Central Railroad, which in 1870 established locomotive and car repair shops in the thriving mill town. On September 27, 1849, the Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad opened to Waterville. There was also a carriage and sleigh factory, boot shop, brickyard, and tannery. The Kennebec River and Messalonskee Stream provided water power for mills, including several sawmills, a gristmill, a sash and blind factory, a furniture factory, and a shovel handle factory. Ticonic Falls blocked navigation farther upriver, so Waterville developed as the terminus for trade and shipping. By the early 1900s, there were five shipyards in the community. Early industries included fishing, lumbering, agriculture and ship building, with larger boats launched in spring during freshets. In 1824 a bridge was built joining the communities. When residents on the west side of the Kennebec found themselves unable to cross the river to attend town meetings, Waterville was founded from the western parts of Winslow and incorporated on June 23, 1802. The township would be organized as Kingfield Plantation, then incorporated as Winslow in 1771. Fort Halifax was built by General John Winslow in 1754, and the last skirmish with indigenous peoples occurred on May 18, 1757. Known as "Ticonic" by English settlers, it was burned in 1692 during King William's War, after which the Canibas tribe abandoned the area. Called "Taconnet" after Chief Taconnet, the main village was located on the east bank of the Kennebec River at its confluence with the Sebasticook River at what is now Winslow.
The area now known as Waterville was once inhabited by the Canibas tribe of the Abenaki people.
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