Casco Bay
Casco Bay is an
European discovery
There are two theories on the origin of the name "Casco Bay". Aucocisco is the Abenaki name for the bay, which means "place of herons" (sometimes translated as "muddy").[1] The Portuguese explorer Estêvão Gomes mapped Maine's coast in 1525 and named the bay "Bahía de Cascos" (Bay of Helmets, based on the shape of the bay).[citation needed]
The first colonial settlement in Casco Bay was that of Captain Christopher Levett, an English explorer, who built a house on House Island in 1623–24. The settlement failed.[2] The first permanent settlement on the bay was named Casco; despite changing names throughout history, that settlement remains the largest city in the region, now called Portland, Maine.
Colonel
History
Native American occupation and relations
At the time of European contact in the 16th century, people speaking an Eastern dialect of the Wabanaki language inhabited present-day Casco Bay.
A number of treaties were negotiated and signed between the British colonies and members of the Wabanaki Confederacy in Casco Bay, including the Treaty of Casco (1678), the Treaty of Casco (1703), and Treaty of Casco Bay (1727).
The latter treaty was the result of a conference between the British and the Abenaki in August 1727, at which the parties agreed to uphold the terms of the 1725 Treaty of Peace and Friendship that ended Dummer's War, and to cooperate in keeping the peace. Chief Loron Sagouarram, who had signed the Treaty of 1725, addressed the gathering in 1727, giving his understanding of the Treaty relationship.[5]
During
War of 1812
Casco Bay is also home to abandoned military fortifications dating from the
Civil War
Fort Gorges, on Hog Island Ledge in the middle of Portland Harbor, dates to the American Civil War.[8]
World War II
Since Casco Bay was the nearest American anchorage to the Atlantic
The State Historic Site of
In popular culture
- The Whales of August, one of Bette Davis's last films, was shot here in 1987.
- In 2008, composers Peter J. McLaughlin and Akiva G. Zamcheck wrote a piece in four movements paying homage to the wreck of the Don, lost near Ragged Island on June 29, 1941. The piece received critical acclaim from the Portland Press Herald and from fellow Maine composers.[10]
Marine economy
Portland has a substantial fleet of deep-sea fishing vessels that offload their catch primarily at the Portland Fish Exchange. Numerous towns and islands serve as ports for lobster boats. Recreational fishing boats can also be chartered.
Marinas include:
- Chebeague Island Boat Yard on Great Chebeague Island;
- Diamond Marine Service Inc. on Great Diamond Island;
- Dolphin Marina and Great Island Boat Yard in Harpswell;
- Handy Boat Service Inc. in Falmouth;
- DiMillo's Old Port Marina, Maine Yacht Center and Portland Yacht Services in Portland;
- Paul's Marina on Mere Point in Brunswick;
- Peaks Island Marina on Peaks Island;
- Port Harbor Marina, South Port Marine, Spring Point Marina and Sunset Marina in South Portland;
- Brewer's and Strouts Point Wharf Co. in South Freeport;
- Royal River Boat Yard, Yankee Marina and Boatyard, and Yarmouth Boat Yard in Yarmouth Harbor.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Bath Iron Works operated a dry dock in Portland Harbor to repair U.S. Navy vessels.
Ecology
Predominant fish in the bay include
Transportation
The bay's major islands are served by the Casco Bay Lines ferry service at the Maine State Pier in Portland. Peaks Island is served by a car ferry and sees 16 ferries a day during the summer. The other islands see fewer ferries and no car transport. Great and Little Diamond islands and Long Island are primarily served by the Diamond Pass run, which is popular with tourists in the summer. Other services Casco Bay Lines offers include a daily mailboat run, a cruise to Bailey Island, and a sunset run.
Other services such as water taxis are popular alternatives to ferries, but are limited to six passengers per boat.
Notable cities and towns
From south to north:
- Cape Elizabeth
- South Portland
- Portland
- Falmouth
- Cumberland
- Yarmouth
- Freeport
- Brunswick
- Harpswell
- West Bath
- Phippsburg
Islands
Major islands
- Bailey Island
- Bustins Island
- Cliff Island
- Cousins Island
- Cushing Island
- Great Chebeague Island
- Great Diamond Island
- Long Island
- Mackworth Island
- Orr's Island
- Peaks Island
- Sebascodegan Island
Minor islands[11]
- Bangs Island
- Basket Island
- Barnes Island
- Bartol Island
- Basin Island
- Bates Island
- Bear Island
- Ben Island
- Big Hen Island
- Birch Island
- Bombazine Island
- Bowman Island
- Bragdon Island
- Burnt Coat Island
- Bush Island
- Center Island
- Clapboard Island
- College Island
- Coombs Islands
- Cow Island
- Crab Island
- Crow Island
- Dingley Island
- Eagle Island
- East Brown Cow Island
- Elm Islands
- French Island
- Frye Island
- George Island
- Gooseberry Island
- Goose Nest Island
- Great Mark Island
- Halfway Rock
- Harbor Island
- Haskell Island
- Hog Island
- Hope Island
- Horse Island
- Home Island
- House Island
- Inner Green Island
- Irony Island
- Jacquish Island
- Jenny Island
- Jewell Island
- Junk of Pork
- Lanes Island
- Little Bustins Island
- Little Chebeague Island
- Little Birch Island
- Little Diamond Island
- Little French Island
- Littlejohn Island
- Little Mark Island
- Little Moshier Island
- Little Snow Island
- Little Whaleboat Island
- Little Wood Island
- Lower Goose Island
- Malaga Island
- Mark Island
- Ministerial Island
- Moshier Island
- Mouse Island
- Outer Green Island
- Overset Island
- Pettingill Island
- Pinkham Island
- Pole Island
- Pound of Tea
- Pumpkin Nob
- Ragged Island
- Ram Island
- Raspberry Island
- Rogue Island
- Sand Island
- Scrag Island
- Sheep Island
- Shelter Island
- Snow Island
- Stave Island (home to Survivor: Gabon winner Bob Crowley)
- Stockman Island
- Sister Island
- Sow and Pigs
- Sturdivant Island
- Turnip Island
- Two Bush Island
- Upper Flag Island
- Upper Goose Island
- Upper Green Island
- The Brothers
- The Goslings
- The Nubbin
- Vail Island
- Whaleboat Island
- White Island
- White Bull Island
- Williams Island
- Wood Island
- Yarmouth Island
Lighthouses
Casco Bay is home to 6 lighthouses:
- Cape Elizabeth Lights
- Portland Head Light
- Ram Island Ledge Light
- Spring Point Ledge Light
- Portland Breakwater (Bug) Light
- Halfway Rock Light
Forts
Forts in Casco Bay:
Fort | Constructed [citation needed] |
Location |
---|---|---|
Fort Gorges | 1865 | Hog Island Ledge, Portland, ME |
Fort Levett | 1898 | Cushing Island, Portland , ME
|
Fort Lyon
|
1909 | Cow Island, Portland, ME |
Fort McKinley | 1907 | Great Diamond Island, Portland , ME
|
Fort Preble | 1808 | Southern Maine Community College/Spring Point Ledge Light, South Portland, ME |
Fort Scammel
|
1808 | House Island, Portland, ME |
Fort Williams | 1872 | Fort Williams Park, Cape Elizabeth, ME |
Battery Steele | 1942 | Peaks Island, Portland, ME |
Newspapers
This section may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. (November 2021) |
The newspaper for Portland, the largest city in Casco Bay, is the Portland Press Herald (Maine Sunday Telegram on Sundays). The Island Institute publishes The Working Waterfront, a free monthly newspaper reporting "the news of Maine's coast and islands". For Southern Maine news, obituaries and sports, The Forecaster is published weekly. In the early 20th century, the Casco Bay Breeze published news of the islands from 1901 to 1917. Digitized copies of it from 1903 to 1917 appear for free on the Library of Congress website "Chronicling America".[12]
See also
- List of islands of Maine
- Casco, Wisconsin, named after Casco Bay[13]
References
- Caldwell, Bill (1982). The Islands of Casco Bay.
- Bibliography of Casco Bay
- ^ The Islands of Casco Bay, p, 4
- ^ James Phinney Baxter (1893). Christopher Levett, of York: The Pioneer Colonist in Casco Bay. The Gorges Society.
casco bay christopher levett.
- ^ a b The Islands of Casco Bay, p. 3
- ^ "Robert York '37". abacus.bates.edu.
- ^ Daniel N. Paul, "Journey Of Hope - Gathering To Ratify the Treaty of 1725 at Annapolis Royal", http://www.danielnpaul.com/TreatyOf1725Ratified-1726.html
- ^ Maine History Online: "1668-1774, Settle and Strife," Maine Historical Society
- ^ Coleman, Emma Lewis. New England captives carried to Canada between 1677 and 1760, during the French and Indian wars. Portland, Maine: The Southworth Press, 1925.
- ^ "World War II left a big footprint on Casco Bay islands". Island Journal. 2020-07-17. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
- ISBN 0195061683.
- ^ "Casco Bay Films: About Casco Bay". cascobayfilms.blogspot.com.
- ^ "Casco Bay - Not for Navigational Use!!!". Archived from the original on 2009-12-19. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
- ^ "Chronicling America | Library of Congress".
- ^ Kewaunee Communities 2025 by Jeffrey Sanders of OMNNI Associates, Inc., Chapter 1: Introduction, page 1 (page 4 of the pdf) (Archived May 14, 2022)