Friendship (formerly known as Meduncook)[2] is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States.

[3] Abenaki Native Americans called it Meduncook, meaning "bay at the end of the sandbar".

By 1754, 22 families lived in Meduncook, most taking shelter within the garrison when the French and Indian War broke out.

[4] They killed and scalped Joshua and Hannah Bradford and their infant son, Winslow.

An original settler from Kingston, Massachusetts, and a great-grandson of Governor William Bradford, Joshua had remained in his house, believing it close enough to the garrison that his family could flee there when necessary, but, while pounding corn, the Bradfords missed hearing the garrison's alarm gun.

Five of their children managed to escape their pursuers into the fort, but two of their sons Cornelius (21) and Joshua (12) were captured and carried to Canada.

[5] After trying to lay siege to Thomaston, Maine, in September 1758, a party of Native Americans and Acadians under the command of the French officer Boishebert, raided the village.

By 1859, when the population was 691, the village had two shipbuilders, two gristmills, one shingle mill and three sawmills.

Boatbuilding remained the dominant industry in town, which became famous for producing the Friendship Sloop, a gaff-rigged sailboat designed for lobstering and fishing.

[6] The author John Cheever wrote his 1957 novel, The Wapshot Chronicle, while vacationing here.

The museum has many interesting artifacts including models of ships and plans for the famous Friendship sloops.

The town is the site of Franklin Island National Wildlife Refuge.