Heading down Main Street with a credit card in one hand and a giant tote bag in the other, the typical Freeport, Maine, visitors have only one thing on their minds: shopping. And who could blame them? With L.L. Bean's flagship retail store as its anchor, Freeport's main drag is a shopper's paradise lined with big-name outlet stores, sporting-good suppliers and unique local shops.

But if you take off those bargain-hunting blinders, you'll also catch glimpses of history preserved at almost every turn. Long before it became a shopping mecca, Freeport was known as a stagecoach stop, a New England trading center and eventually a major player in the shipbuilding industry. The town was incorporated in 1789 and was home to famous sea captains, explorers, politicians and industrialists.

Many townspeople say Freeport is the birthplace of Maine because it was there in 1820 that commissioners signed the papers separating Maine from the commonwealth of Massachusetts. Historians will tell you this legend hasn't been documented, but don't mention that when you're enjoying a lazy man's lobster or crabmeat-stuffed haddock at the Jameson Tavern (115 Main St., 207-865-4196). It's said the papers were signed right in this 1779 building — over a few glasses of ale, no doubt.