Casco Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine, New England, United States. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth. The city of Portland sits along its southern edge and the Port of Portland lies within.
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 Wolfgang William Römer, an English military engineer, first reported in 1700 that the bay had "as many islands as there are days in the year", [3] leading to the bay's islands being called the Calendar Islands, based on the popular myth there are 365 of them. The United States Coastal Pilot lists 136 islands; [3] former Maine state historian Robert M. York said there are "little more than two hundred islands". [4]
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 King William's War, Louis de Buade de Frontenac, the Governor General of New France, launched a campaign to drive the English from the settlements east of Falmouth, Maine. [6] On 16 May 1690, the fortified settlement on Casco Bay was attacked by a war party of 50 French-Canadian soldiers led by Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin, about 50 Abenaki warriors from Canada, a contingent of French militia led by Joseph-François Hertel de la Fresnière, and 300-400 additional natives from Maine, including some Penobscots under the leadership of Madockawando. Fort Loyal was attacked at the same time. About 75 men in the Casco settlement fought for four days before surrendering on 20 May, on condition of safe passage. Instead, most of the men, including John Swarton, were killed, and the surviving settlers were taken captive, including Hannah Swarton and her children. Swarton was ransomed in 1695 and her story published by Cotton Mather. [7] : 196–99
Casco Bay is also home to abandoned military fortifications dating from the War of 1812 through World War II; during World War II, Casco Bay served as an anchorage for US Navy ships.
Fort Gorges, on Hog Island Ledge in the middle of Portland Harbor, dates to the American Civil War. [8]
Since Casco Bay was the nearest American anchorage to the Atlantic Lend-Lease convoy routes to Britain until the U.S. entered World War II, Admiral King ordered a large pool of destroyers to be stationed there for convoy escort duty in August 1941. [9]
The State Historic Site of Eagle Island was the summer home of Arctic explorer Robert Peary.
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:
During the 1980s and 1990s, Bath Iron Works operated a dry dock in Portland Harbor to repair U.S. Navy vessels.
Predominant fish in the bay include mackerel, striped bass, and bluefish. Shellfish include lobsters, crabs, mussels, clams, and snails. Harbor seals congregate on certain exposed ledges, and whales on occasion swim into the bay, and in a few instances into Portland Harbor. Seagulls, cormorants and varying species of duck are the most common birds; more rarely osprey, eagles and herons have been sighted. Casco Bay contains bay mud bottoms and banks in some locations, providing important substrates for biota.
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.
From south to north:
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Major islands
Minor islands [11]
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Casco Bay is home to 6 lighthouses:
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 |
 | 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]
Portland is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area has a population of approximately 550,000 people. Historically tied to commercial shipping, the marine economy, and light industry, Portland's economy in the 21st century relies mostly on the service sector. The Port of Portland is the second-largest tonnage seaport in the New England area as of 2019.
Cumberland County is a county in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2020 census, the population was 303,069, making it the most populous county in Maine. Its county seat is Portland. Cumberland County was founded in 1760 from a portion of York County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, and named for William, Duke of Cumberland, a son of King George II. Cumberland County has the deepest and second-largest body of water in the state, Sebago Lake, which supplies tap water to most of the county. The county is the state's economic and industrial center, having the resources of the Port of Portland, the Maine Mall, and having corporate headquarters of major companies such as Fairchild Semiconductor, IDEXX Laboratories, Unum, and TD Bank. Cumberland County is part of the Portland–South Portland, ME Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Falmouth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 12,444 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area.
Harpswell is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, within Casco Bay in the Gulf of Maine. The population was 5,031 at the 2020 census. Harpswell is composed of land contiguous with the rest of Cumberland County, called Harpswell Neck, as well as three large islands connected by bridges: Sebascodegan Island, Orr's Island, and Bailey Island and over 200 smaller islands. Harpswell is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Phippsburg is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States, on the west side of the mouth of the Kennebec River. The population was 2,155 at the 2020 census. It is within the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine, metropolitan statistical area. A tourist destination, Phippsburg is home to Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area, Fort Popham State Historic Site; it is also home to Fort Baldwin which overlooks Fort Popham, and Popham Beach State Park, as well as Pond Island National Wildlife Refuge. The town includes part of Winnegance.
The Fore River is a short horn-shaped estuary, approximately 5.7 miles (9.2 km) long, separating Portland and South Portland in Maine in the United States. Many of the port facilities of the Portland harbor are along the estuary, which is formed just southwest of Portland by the confluence of several creeks. The estuary was initially known as Levett's River, so named by the first English settler of the Casco Bay region, Capt. Christopher Levett. But shortly afterwards, the estuary came to have the name by which it is known today.
Chebeague Island is located in Casco Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Maine. It was originally used as a fishing ground by Abenaki Native Americans. Also known as Great Chebeague Island, today it is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. It is located 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Portland, Maine. Chebeague Island is the largest island in Casco Bay that is not connected to the mainland by a bridge. The largest island is Sebascodegan, or "Great Island," which is part of the Town of Harpswell and connected to the mainland via a 100ft bridge.
Cushing Island, or Cushing's Island, is a privately owned island in Casco Bay in the U.S. state of Maine. Part of the city of Portland, roughly 45 families live there seasonally.
Casco Bay Lines is a publicly run transportation company that services the residents of the islands of Casco Bay, Maine. These islands include Peaks Island, Little Diamond Island, Great Diamond Island, Diamond Cove, Long Island, Chebeague Island, and Cliff Island.
The History of Portland, Maine begins when Native Americans originally called the Portland peninsula Məkíhkanək meaning “At the fish hook” in Penobscot and Machigonne in Algonquian. The peninsula and surrounding areas was home to members of the Algonquian-speaking Aucocisco branch of the Eastern Abenaki tribe who were forcibly relocated to current day Canada during European settlement.
Fort Levett was a former U.S. Army fort built on Cushing Island, Maine, beginning in 1898. Located in Cumberland County, Maine, in Casco Bay near Portland, Maine, the fort was heavily fortified with guns for coastal defense. Conceived under the Endicott Program in 1885 and begun in the wake of the Spanish–American War, Fort Levett was manned during both world wars. It was part of the Coast Defenses of Portland, later renamed the Harbor Defenses of Portland, a command which protected Portland's port and naval anchorage from 1904 to 1950. The fort's name is sometimes misspelled "Leavitt".
Battery Steele is a United States military fortification on Peaks Island, Portland, Maine in Casco Bay. Completed in 1942 as part of World War II, it is located on 14 acres (5.7 ha) on the oceanside area of the island, formerly part of the Peaks Island Military Reservation. It is named for Harry L. Steele, who was a Coast Artillery officer during World War I. It was armed with two 16-inch MkIIMI guns and, with a 12-inch gun battery at Fort Levett on Cushing Island, replaced all previous heavy guns in the Harbor Defenses of Portland. It was built to protect Casco Bay, particularly Portland harbor, from Kennebunk to Popham Beach in Phippsburg. According to Kim MacIsaac and historian Joel Eastman in An Island at War, “Battery Steele is not only the largest gun battery built on Peaks Island, but also an example of the largest battery ever built anywhere in the United States.” In 1995, after decades of non-use, the Peaks Island Land Preserve, a community land preservation group, formed to purchase the area and forever preserve it as a public space. On October 20, 2005, the property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Other coast defense structures on the island include fire control towers and the counterweight for a disappearing searchlight tower.
Fort Loyal was a British settler refuge and colonial outpost built in 1678 at Falmouth in Casco Bay. It was destroyed in 1690 by Abenaki and French forces at the Battle of Fort Loyal. The fort was rebuilt in 1742 and renamed Falmouth Fort before King George's War and rearmed again in 1755 for the French and Indian War. The fort was rebuilt a final time in 1775 for the American Revolution.
The Harbor Defenses of Portland was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of Portland, Maine, the mouth of the Kennebec River, and surrounding areas from 1895 to 1950, beginning with the Endicott program. These included both coast artillery forts and underwater minefields. The command originated circa 1895 as the Portland Artillery District, was renamed Coast Defenses of Portland in 1913, and again renamed Harbor Defenses of Portland in 1925.
Fort Casco was an English fort built in present-day Falmouth, Maine in 1698. It was the easternmost English fortification in New England and served as the boundary between English settlement and Wabanaki territory.
Walter Gendall was a 17th-century English sawmill owner in and prominent citizen of North Yarmouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was also a captain in King Philip's War of 1675–1678 and King William's War of 1688–1697. He lost his life in the second conflict. His name is also spelled Walter Gendle in literature.
Hannah Swarton, née Joana Hibbert/Hibbard, was a New England colonial pioneer who was captured by Abenaki Indians and held prisoner for 5+1⁄2 years, first in an Abenaki community and later in the home of a French family in Quebec. She was eventually freed and told her story to Cotton Mather, who used it as a moral lesson in several of his works.
The Casco Bay Mailboat is a sailing vessel, run by Casco Bay Lines, which delivers mail and other items to the residents of the islands of Casco Bay in Maine, United States. It is the longest-running mailboat service in the country, having been in existence since the 1870s. Up until the 1950s, the boat was coal-powered; now it runs on a diesel engine.
Archie Elbert Ross was an American sea captain and shipwright. He was captain of the ferry which runs between Bustins Island and South Freeport, Maine, for over fifty years. Bustins Island's public landing is now named for him.
Public transportation in Maine is available for all four main modes of transport—air, bus, ferry and rail—assisting residents and visitors without their own vehicle to travel around much of Maine's 31,000 square miles (80,000 km2).
casco bay christopher levett.
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