Woolwich (parish)
Woolwich, also known as Woolwich St Mary, was an ancient parish containing the town of Woolwich on the south bank of the Thames and North Woolwich on the north bank. The parish was governed by its vestry from the 16th century to 1852, based in the Church of St Mary until 1842, after which in the purpose-built Woolwich Town Hall. The parish adopted the Public Health Act 1848 and was governed by the Woolwich Local Board of Health from 1852. When the parish became part of the district of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855 the local board was treated as if it were an incorporated vestry. It was in the county of Kent until it was transferred to London in 1889. In 1900 it was amalgamated with other parishes to form the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich and had only nominal existence until it was abolished as a civil parish in 1930. Since 1965 it has been split between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Newham.
Days Ferry Historic District
The area that is now Woolwich has seen colonial settlement since the mid-17th century, and was the site of one of the last Native American attacks on the lower Kennebec River. Originally part of Georgetown, Woolwich was incorporated in 1759. The Days Ferry village became the site of the principal river crossing on the lower Kennebec, and the stagecoach road was built from the ferry to Wiscasset further east. Economic activity in the area included shipbuilding, ice harvesting, fishing, and brickmaking. Bath, its commercial center located downriver a few miles, was economically more important, and in the 1870s a steam ferry began operating there, reducing the importance of Days Ferry.