AUBURN — The public is invited to a look at early Maine colonial history with a special lecture by historian John Bradford titled “Lost and Found: Maine’s 1607 Popham Colony.” The special lecture will be held at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, at the Auburn Public Library Androscoggin Community Room.

In August 1607 100 English colonists, all men, aboard two ships, established two colonies, one at Jamestown, Va., and one at present-day Popham Beach.

They initially hoped to develop a trade for food and furs, to ship timber back to England, to find gold, silver and other valuable minerals, and to find the Northwest Passage.

These hopes and dreams were shattered when only 14 months later, in October 1608, Fort Saint George was abandoned and the Popham colony pronounced a failure.

While waiting for relief ships the colonists managed to complete construction of a small ship, a 30-ton pinnace they christened Virginia, the first English ship built in Maine and probably in all of North America.

The public is invited to hear story, recent archaeological digs at Popham and about the current efforts to reconstruct the Virginia.