First occupied by Paleoindians and the Wabanaki Native Americans, the falls were a plentiful resource for food and trade.

Throughout colonial history, the Industrial Revolution, and into the 21st century, the falls have been a vital part of Brunswick and Topsham's economy, harnessing its power for energy development.

Around 25,000 years ago all of New England, including Maine, was covered by the massive Laurentide Ice Sheet.

As the climate warmed, the modern stream and river network was soon established, including Brunswick Falls.

[5] Pejepscot Falls, as it was then called, was the site of a trading post that the Wabanakis established to exchange furs with other local Native American tribes.

Four years later, in 1632, the Plymouth Company granted a patent to the land known as Pejepscot, including the falls, to Purchase and his brother-in-law, George Way.

The falls had a rich stock of salmon, sturgeon and shad, which Purchase took advantage of, shipping barrels of fish laden with salt to London.

[4]: 553 Colonel Loammi Baldwin, from Boston, made a survey of the water-power of the Androscoggin River in Brunswick.

In the same year construction began on Units 2 and 3 of the Brunswick hydroelectric station including a fish ladder.

[10] Salmon, sturgeon, alewife and shad were very abundant in the Androscoggin, but their number has greatly diminished during modern times.

By the 1930s, the Androscoggin's population of sea-run fish was virtually gone, although the Clean Water Act of 1972 helped restore a few species.