First Falls (Yarmouth, Maine)

The First Falls (officially Pumgustuk) are the first of four waterfalls in Yarmouth, Maine, United States. They are located on the Royal River, approximately a mile from its mouth with inner Casco Bay at Yarmouth Harbor and around 0.35 miles (0.56 km) downstream of the Second Falls. The river appealed to settlers because its 45-foot rise in close proximity to navigable water each provided potential waterpower sites. As such, each of the four falls was used to power 57 mills between 1674 and the mid-20th century.

The local Wabanakis called the First Falls (or Lower Falls) Pumgustuk, which means head of tide. (The town's early firefighters were called Pumgustuk Fire Company. Their eponymous pumper was purchased in 1856 and retired in 1928. The first incarnation of today's Yarmouth Water District was called Pumgustuk Water Company.) In November 2024, the federal government recognized the Native American name of the falls and will label them "Pumgustuk" on federal maps and in databases of the U.S. Geological Survey.