Casco Bay and Climate Change

Portland Sea Level Trend 1912-2015

Climate Trends In 2017 the University of Southern Maine, through USM Digital Commons, published “Casco Bay Climate Change Vulnerability Report.” It has been accessible at http://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=cbep-publications (accessed February 20, 2018). The following is a selection of its findings and conclusions. Temperature The Casco Bay region has experienced warmer summers; warmer winters; warmer waters; increased drought;…

Bangs Island

East Shore of Bangs Island (2015)

East Shore of Bangs Island (2015) On Casco Bay in the town of Chebeague Island, narrow Bangs Island is just short of a mile long. It is owned by the Maine Department of Conservation and was managed by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in 2013. An aquaculture lease for suspended culture of blue…

Harpswell, West and South

Dick

Among Harpswell’s villages at the southern portion of Harpswell Neck is West Harpswell, about two miles south of Harpswell Center. South Harpswell begins about a mile farther, where Route 123 branches to Ash Point Road, Basin Point Road, as well as continuing to Potts Point. West Harpswell is home to Mitchell Field,  a 119-acre Town-owned…

Peaks Island

An Informal Stone Art Site along Seashore Avenue on Peaks Island

The Island is a City of Portland neighborhood in Casco Bay, accessible by ferry from the terminal on Portland’s waterfront.  The brief trip carries freight, vehicles, bicycles and tourists. Little Diamond Island and Great Diamond Island are just to the west. While the population is about 900, the number of people on this 720-acre island…

South Freeport

South Freeport is on the broad Harraseeket River leading to Casco Bay. Once a shipbuilding center, it now hosts the town’s public wharf, a marina, a boatyard, and the Harraseeket Yacht Club. Winslow Park on the Bay provides recreation and camping opportunities.

Portland

With its large population, financial and legal services, cultural and historical attractions, and “Old Port” dining and shopping district, the City is the only true metropolitan area in the state. See photos. Portland harbor is a working waterfront serving tankers, tourists, and fisheries, along with recreational boating from year-round and summer residents. Ferries connect the mainland to the many Casco Bay islands. Settled in 1632 and incorporated as a town on July 4, 1786, Portland became a city in 1833.

Long Island

Town of Long Island Community Center (2018)

is a town in Cumberland County incorporated in 1992, the first new town in Maine since 1925, from an island in Casco Bay once a part of Portland. See map. It has several beaches, harbors, a fresh water marsh, and a 125 acre conservation area. In addition to the post office, there is one year-round store, and a store and a gift shop open seasonally. A “guest house” is also open all year. The village is at the southwestern end with the town office, community center, library, and a K-5 school.

Goddard Mansion

Goddard Mansion (2001)

is located in Cape Elizabeth on the grounds of the Fort Williams City park. It was completed in 1858 for John Goddard (1811-1870) to an Italianate design by Portland architect Charles Alexander. Goddard, a successful lumberman, had purchased the Cape Cottage Hotel in 1853 with the intention of placing his dream home on it adjacent…

Fort Gorges

Fort Gorges in Casco Bay (2014)

The structure was begun in 1858, a year after Congress authorized funds, on Hog Island in Portland Harbor. By the end of the Civil War it was outdated with the invention of the rifle cannon that could destroy its granite structure. Fort Gorges is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Currently owned by…

Ferries

Steve Longley "Ferryman" (2007)

Inland Ferries One atypical ferry operates on the Kennebec River at Caratunk, where Appalachian Trail hikers are provided sake passage across. Crossing rivers was important to commerce and transportation even in the early decades of the 20th century. Some were displaced by bridges, others became obsolete as new roads and faster automobiles became available. This…

Casco Bay

Schooner Near Halfway Rock (2001)

The Bay contains about 200 islands (depending on what one counts as an “island” but only about 138 “good sized” islands). The Bay is bounded by Cape Elizabeth in the south and Cape Small in the north. Halfway Rock is about half way between the two capes which are about twenty miles apart, and about…

Archaeology

Outline of a Building at Pemaquid (2001)

                                          Outline of a Building at Pemaquid (2001) The views above represent products of historic archaeology, showing outlines of buildings in the early years of the Pemaquid settlement. The views of digs at shell middens…