AUGUSTA -- A proposal to re-create a 1628 trading post -- considered by some to be the second-most important historical Pilgrim site in this country -- won unanimous City Council approval Thursday.

The trading post, which would be built at no cost to the city on land between Augusta City Center and Old Fort Western, would replicate the original structure, which brought Pilgrims and American Indians together to trade.

This time local officials hope the post will bring tourists, students, history buffs and Mayflower descendants to Augusta.

"This post was the site of the second or third contact between Pilgrims and Indians, a real key part of the history of the United States," said Brad Gorham, of Rhode Island, president of the Pilgrim John Howland Society, while speaking in favor of the project last week. "I urge you to approve this project."

Councilors discussed the proposal in depth at an informational meeting last week. They voted to approve it at their business meeting Thursday night, without debate.

The Pilgrim John Howland Society is an organization of 1,400 active members, descendants of John Howland, who was one of the 102 English passengers who came to New England from Holland and England aboard the ship Mayflower in 1620.

Members of the group came up the Kennebec River to Old Fort Western in Augusta in 2004 in their replica boat, the shallop Elizabeth Tilley.

Gorham said they'd bring the shallop back for another visit if the trading post is built.

He said 10 million to 20 million people in America can claim to be descendants of Howland, who had 10 children and 82 grandchildren.

Mayflower descendants are a likely target audience to help fund the construction of the post, and also to come visit it, according to Jay Adams, curator and director of Old Fort Western.

Adams said the post, which preceded the fort by 126 years, is likely the second most important Pilgrim historical spot, next to Plymouth Rock.

He said trade with Indians at the post -- much of it corn from Pilgrims in exchange for beaver pelts from the Indians -- raised far more money to help pay off the Pilgrim's debt incurred getting to the New World than any other post.

"Aside from Plymouth itself, the place in North America most crucial to understanding Pilgrims, this is the next most important," Adams has said.

The original, 800-square-foot trading post was on the present site of the Christian Science Church. The replica's proposed site is just south of the fort, outside the fence that surrounds it.

Adams said fort programs already teach students about the trading post and its significance in history, but said having an actual trading post on the site would allow the story to be told much better.

"I can assure you when you have something you can walk schoolchildren into, you can teach that history so much better than in a classroom," the Rev. Richard Freeman, chairman of the board of trustees of the fort, and a Mayflower descendent, said recently. "And I can assure you, we will never ask for city funds for this."

Keith Edwards -- 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com