[4] The Cushnoc site is significant as it provides a window into trading, living, and construction practices in the early period of colonial settlement in New England.

In order to repay the investors in the colonization effort, the colonists engaged in a number of ventures, one of which was trading for furs with the local Native American population.

In 1754 the British built Fort Western (now also designated as a National Historic Landmark) "at a place called Cushenoc[sic] Near The Spot where one hundred years ago the late Plymouth Colony had a Garrison.

It is located on the eastern bank of the Kennebec River, just south of Fort Western, on land that is partly owned by a local church.

The data uncovered thus far and new excavations are expected to shed light on the relationships between (and among) the English traders, the Native populations, and the nearby French Acadian settlements.