 In the early 17th century, Christopher Levett gave the name of the river, or perhaps the marshes it drains, as "Owascoag", after the Abenaki Indian name.The English fishing fleet offshore in 1624 was over 50 vessels, and the shores of the river were settled by fishermen and their families early in the period of English settlement; when the primary road in Maine ran along the coastline for its entire length, a ferry operated across the mouth of the river, running from Pine Point Beach to Ferry Beach.In the late 19th century, Little River Inlet, a tidal reentrant located at the south end of Pine Point Beach, was dammed and diverted into the Scarborough River.