The district encompasses an important early village in the Portland area, significant as a shipbuilding and mill site established by Thomas Westbrook in 1727.

The area also has a number of mid-19th century houses, a remnant section of the Cumberland and Oxford Canal, and the archaeological remains of its early industrial past.

In 1727 the area was resettled by Colonel Thomas Westbrook, who was hired as the mast agent for the government of King George II.

He built some of the early roads through the area, in part to facilitate the hauling of masts to a ship landing on the river.

Business flourished in the area until trade was halted by the Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812, but saw a revival with the construction of the Cumberland and Oxford Canal.