The history of The First began with the formation of The People's Bank, incorporated in 1852. The bank was created in the spirit of local ownership, with several prominent business owners in the twin villages of Damariscotta and Newcastle establishing the bank to serve their many enterprises. The People's Bank was re-chartered by the U.S. Treasury on May 30, 1864, to become The First National Bank of Damariscotta. Over 140 years later, The First still stands strong as an independent bank serving a much wider community than the twin villages. Local ownership and independence is still essential to our mission today, as it was for those involved in the industries along the shores of the Damariscotta River many years ago.

The First National Bank of Bar Harbor was organized on May 9, 1888. Formed by a board of directors who ranged from prominent insurance agents to local physicians, The First National became only the second bank to be founded in Bar Harbor. It did not take long for the institution to become successful and well-known in the area for being a hard- working bank built on strong community values. In 1991, the bank recorded nearly $96,000,000 in total assets. By 2004, The First National had seven branches, from Blue Hill to Calais.

On January 14, 2005, First National Lincoln Corporation announced the immediate merger with FNB Bankshares. The First National Bank of Damariscotta and The First National Bank of Bar Harbor combined their strong deposit and lending forces into one financial institution. With the merger, the institution adopted the new name of The First, truly bringing the two banking institutions together as one. With the completion of the merger, The First became the third largest bank headquartered in Maine, with combined assets of more than $860 million.

Today, The First is a genuine community bank that is committed to serving our customers along the coast of Maine -- from Wiscasset to Calais. We work harder to find a way to meet customer needs and bend over backwards to make the extra effort for our customers. This unique style of banking is now available in fourteen branch offices, along with free services such as Online Banking and Bill Pay and coin-counting machines. Although our name has changed and our banking family has grown throughout the years, we are still committed to making banking easy for you. Come to any one of our locations and meet any of our 225 employees to discover that The First truly is a better way to bank.

Other Locations

Camden
19 Elm Street
Camden, Maine, 04843
Phone: 207-236-8700
Fax: 207-236-8822

Rockport
114 Commercial St
Rockport, Maine, 04856
Phone: 207-236-3131
Fax: 207-236-4277

Waldoboro
1471 Atlantic Hwy
Waldoboro, Maine, 04572
Phone: 207-832-5373
Fax: 207-832-7813