Ellsworth, the shire town and county seat of Hancock County, stands at the head of the Union River as a small waterfront city and historic downtown center. Before European settlement, its trees and lakes were inhabited by the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes, whose fishing, basket making, and river navigation skills helped them befriend the French who settled in the area in the mid 1500s. In 1773, the first schooner built in Ellsworth carried pine shingles and oak staves to the West Indies, reflecting the region's lumber trade later associated with its lumber barons. Ellsworth became Hancock County's seat of government in 1838, in what is now the Courthouse Gallery. The Revolutionary, Civil, and Great wars affected Maine's male population, and Ellsworth also endured the Great Flood and then the Great Fire of 1933, which destroyed much of downtown. Afterward, new buildings rose in brick or Art Deco style, including The Grand Theatre, and city hall dates from this pre-World War II era. Ellsworth covers 93.8 square miles, and at Ellsworth Falls the Agassiz Outcrop, a National Historic Landmark, became notable for its early recognition as evidence of glaciation.