In the 1700s, Berwick, South Berwick and North Berwick were still all one town called Berwick, and the Province of Maine was part of Massachusetts.  The population center of the community stood in what became known as the Old Fields part of town, near today’s Brattle and Vine Streets and Oldfields Road.  Nearby, tall ships were constructed at the shipyards of Pipe Stave Landing, where the Hamilton House stands today.  Farming and lumbering were many people’s means of support.