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Maine · Bath · Kennebec River · #265 Most Populous County in the US
Sagadahoc County, Maine
Bath - the City of Ships, where Bath Iron Works has built US Navy destroyers since 1884 and the Maine Maritime Museum preserves the history of one of America's greatest shipbuilding traditions. The smallest county by area in Maine, with a mighty maritime heritage. Property tax, courts, public records, probate, and senior services for Sagadahoc County residents.
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Sagadahoc County's assessment ratio means effective tax rates are low — but incorrect appraisals still cost money. Ownwell manages the appeal with no upfront cost.
Office: Sagadahoc County Emergency Management Agency (SCEMA) – confirm current contact via sagadahoccountyme.gov; Fax (207) 443-8212; operates the county’s CodeRED emergency alert system. Sagadahoc County Communications Center – 752 High Street, Bath, ME 04530; dispatches police, fire, and EMS for all ten county municipalities (Arrowsic, Bath, Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Georgetown, Phippsburg, Richmond, Topsham, West Bath, and Woolwich).
Sheriff: Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office – 752 High Street, Bath, ME 04530 | (207) 443-8201 | Fax (207) 443-8224; Sheriff Joel Merry, with the office since 2016; 16 deputies patrol the county’s roads and provide Shellfish Warden services to municipalities; the office also supports security details for Bath Iron Works (BIW).
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-1 and ME-24 serve Bath, the county seat, on the Kennebec River in Midcoast Maine.
Notes: Sagadahoc County covers roughly 370 square miles (254 land, 116 water – nearly a third water) and swells from about 37,500 year-round residents to roughly 50,000 during Maine’s busy summer tourist season.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Sagadahoc County Court Building – 752 High Street, Bath, ME.
Notes: Sagadahoc County is genuinely the site of the Popham Colony (also called the Sagadahoc Colony), founded in August 1607 near present-day Phippsburg at the mouth of the Kennebec River – just months after, and the same year as, the more famous Jamestown settlement in Virginia. Though the colony was abandoned after only about 14 months, its colonists built the Virginia of Sagadahoc, the first ship constructed by English colonists in North America, which twice crossed the Atlantic. The colony’s site, lost until its rediscovery in 1994, is now part of Popham Beach State Park, and marks what many historians consider the beginning of 400+ years of continuous shipbuilding tradition in the Bath area – a legacy that continues today at Bath Iron Works, a major U.S. Navy shipbuilder and one of the county’s largest employers.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Sagadahoc County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via sagadahoccountyme.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Patten Free Library (Bath) – confirm current address/phone via bath.me.us.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Popham Beach State Park (site of the 1607 Popham Colony), Bath Iron Works and its maritime heritage sites, and the historic Doubling Point Light are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine Popham Colony connection – a rival first colony founded the same year as Jamestown – is one of the most historically significant local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Sagadahoc County Registry of Deeds – Bath, ME.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Midcoast Humane (formerly Coastal Humane Society) – Brunswick campus, 5 Industrial Pkwy, Brunswick, ME 04011 | (207) 449-1366; founded 1950 by concerned Brunswick citizens, incorporated 1965 with Bowdoin College professor Stanley Chase as first Board president; one of the largest animal shelters in Maine, holding municipal contracts with roughly 39-40 towns across the Midcoast and caring for 4,000+ animals annually (97% live release rate); also operates a second facility in Edgecomb (Lincoln County) and a thrift shop in Boothbay Harbor. Hours: Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun 11 AM-3 PM, closed Wednesday.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Sagadahoc County Department of Environmental Programs – confirm current contact via sagadahoccountyme.gov.
NOTES: Sagadahoc County is the sixth and final county in the second batch of the Maine v2 A+ sourced standard. The genuine Popham Colony connection – a rival first colony founded the same year as Jamestown – is one of the most historically significant local facts covered anywhere in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Sagadahoc County
Sagadahoc County is Maine’s smallest county by area – but its maritime heritage and industrial significance far exceed its size. Bath (the county seat, population ~9,000) has been called the City of Ships since the 19th century, when Bath-built wooden sailing vessels carried cargo across the world’s oceans and Bath was one of the most productive shipbuilding cities in the United States.
Bath Iron Works (BIW) – now a subsidiary of General Dynamics – has been building warships for the US Navy from its Kennebec River shipyard since 1884. BIW builds Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (DDGs), the backbone of the US Navy’s surface warfare fleet, and is one of only two private shipyards capable of building these vessels (the other is Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi). BIW employs approximately 6,000 workers – the largest private employer in Maine – and its contract cycles have a decisive effect on Bath’s economy and housing market.
The Maine Maritime Museum – on the Kennebec River adjacent to the former Percy & Small Shipyard – is one of the finest maritime museums in America, preserving the last surviving great wooden shipbuilding yard in the United States and an extraordinary collection of artifacts, vessels, and records from Maine’s maritime history.
Georgetown Island and Phippsburg – on the county’s coast – are among Maine’s most beautiful small coastal communities, with beaches at Popham Beach State Park (the site of the 1607 Popham Colony – the first English settlement in New England, predating Plymouth by 13 years, though it was abandoned after one winter).
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Maine requires municipal assessment at 100% of just value. Each of Sagadahoc County’s 11 municipalities has its own assessors.
The abatement process: File by March 1. If denied, appeal to Maine Board of Assessment Review or Sagadahoc County Superior Court within 60 days.
Maine estate tax: Above $6.41 million (2025). No Maine inheritance tax.
OWNWELL CTA: Sagadahoc County abatement deadline March 1. Bath Iron Works employment stabilizes Bath market. Popham Beach and Georgetown coastal properties have strong appreciation. Maine estate tax at $6.41M. Ownwell manages the abatement with no upfront cost.
Recommended
Sagadahoc County abatement deadline March 1. Bath Iron Works employment stabilizes Bath market. Popham Beach and Georgetown coastal properties have strong appreciation. Maine estate tax at $6.41M. Ownwell manages the abatement with no upfront cost.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
The Sagadahoc County Superior Court at 752 High Street, Bath (207-443-8213) handles major civil and criminal matters. The Sagadahoc County Probate Court at 752 High Street (207-443-8218) handles all estate administration. The Sagadahoc County Registry of Deeds (207-443-8214) at 752 High Street maintains all land records.
BIW and General Dynamics estate planning: Bath Iron Works workers hold General Dynamics equity compensation (NYSE: GD) and UAW/IAM union pension assets. BIW’s labor contracts (negotiated between General Dynamics and the IAM – International Association of Machinists) provide specific retirement benefits that interact with estate plans.
Popham Colony and historic land: Sagadahoc County contains some of Maine’s oldest European settlement sites – early land grants and colonial-era deed history create specific title research challenges for estates involving rural properties in Georgetown, Phippsburg, and Arrowsic.
Senior Services: The Sagadahoc County – Bath Senior Center (207-443-8736) at 17 Congress Avenue, Bath and the Southern Maine Agency on Aging coordinate senior services and Maine SHIP Medicare counseling.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF COURTS (Court Records)
752 High St., Bath, ME 04530
(207) 443-8218
Bath City Clerk
(207) 443-8340
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Sagadahoc County Probate Court (estate/probate case files – see Probate section above).
Bath Iron Works and the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath are significant local historical resources reflecting the county’s shipbuilding heritage.
Local societies
No dedicated Sagadahoc County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Sagadahoc County Probate Court 752 High Street (P.O. Box 246), Bath, ME 04530 (207) 443-8218
Sagadahoc County is on the midcoast at the mouth of the Kennebec River, seated in Bath, home to Bath Iron Works.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Maine adopted the Uniform Probate Code effective July 1, 2019 (Title 18-C), replacing the prior Title 18-A. Maine is one of fewer than 20 UPC states, so its informal/formal probate tracks and terminology follow the uniform model used elsewhere.
Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit (Small Estate Affidavit) – under 18-C §3-1201, available when the estate’s personal property value is below a threshold that’s adjusted annually for inflation. No probate case or personal representative appointment is required; a successor can present a sworn affidavit directly to banks or others holding the decedent’s property. Each county’s Probate Court publishes the current year’s threshold on its website.
Informal Probate – the path most Maine estates use. Available when the will (if any) is uncontested, the estate is straightforward, and no interested party objects. A Probate Registrar (not a judge) reviews and approves the application without a hearing.
Formal Probate – required when a will is contested, the personal representative appointment is disputed, or supervised administration is requested. These matters go before the elected Judge of Probate at a hearing.
Step 2: filing for probate
For informal probate with a will, file Form DE-201(I) (Application for Informal Probate of Will or Appointment of Personal Representative); for informal intestate proceedings (no will), file Form DE-101(I) – both with the Probate Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled. Applications cannot be filed earlier than 5 days after death.
In informal probate, the Register reviews the application and, if in order, issues a Statement of Informal Probate and Letters appointing the personal representative – no hearing required.
The personal representative must file an inventory of estate assets with the court within 3 months of appointment.
Notice to creditors must be published once a week for 2 successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, and the personal representative must mail written notice to known creditors within 4 months of appointment (18-C §3-801).
The personal representative pays valid debts and taxes in priority order, then distributes remaining assets and files a final accounting to close the estate.
What it costs
Filing fees are based on estate value, set by each county’s fee schedule.
Publication costs for the creditor notice typically run in the low hundreds of dollars.
Maine does not set a statutory percentage fee for attorneys or personal representatives; fees must be “reasonable” based on the time and complexity of the work involved.
While not legally required, hiring an attorney is commonly recommended, especially for formal probate or if the estate is at all complex.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
752 High St., Bath, ME 04530
(207) 443-8201
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Sagadahoc County / Midcoast Maine public health resources – contact 2-1-1 Maine for referrals.
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