The Lower Falls at Saccarappa Dam on the Presumpscot once supplied hydraulic power to Westbrook's mills, including W.K. Dana and S.D. Warren. The photograph was taken with a view toward the southeast, capturing the detailed construction of the dam and revealing the channels below the top edge of the spill wall, which released the dammed water in controlled and continuous flows.

The damming of the Presumpscot, first undertaken in the 1730s by Thomas Westbrook, prevented the migration of salmon upstream, which destroyed the livelihood of Wabanaki families. Sagamore Polin walked to Boston in 1739 to protest the dam, raising ecological concerns that persisted for centuries.