The land trust and other organizations in Harpswell are the fortunate beneficiaries of generous townspeople with a special awareness of the importance of history. Here is an example. In 1786, a man named Waitsill Merryman built a small wooden house located across the road from the Union Church, just south of what we now know… Read more
Picture it: a tidal cove flanked by salt marshes, exposed mud flats at low tide, and osprey hunting when the tide is high. A place where horseshoe crabs spawn in May and June, where ferns and trout lilies carpet the woodland floor, and evergreens lean and spire toward sunlight. Breathe the mixed scent of pine… Read more
Join Harpswell Historical Society and Harpswell Heritage Land Trust for a celebration of traditional handcrafts and subsistence skills on Saturday, Oct. 14 from 12-4 p.m., rain or shine, at the Harpswell Historical Society, 929 Harpswell Neck Road. Parking will be available at the Elijah Kellogg Church. You’ll find lots to see and learn — all free,… Read more
On Thursday, August 10, 2023, John Goff gave a presentation on the history of steamboats in Harpswell. To view the presentation, recorded by Harpswell Television, click here. The early 19th Century saw the commercial spread of steam engines and steamboats for transportation of both goods and travelers. By the 1840s technological improvements such as the… Read more
It’s 1926. In Maine, a pioneer forester is completing purchase of several plots of land on Great Island with the plan of managing them for timber production. A Portland politician has just left the governorship, and after years of trying to persuade state government to create a park, he’s determined to buy a mountain and… Read more
If children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see, and our mission is to protect what is so special about Harpswell, then our young people are one of Harpswell Heritage Land Trust’s (HHLT) most precious resources. According to the Child Mind Institute, “the average-American child spends about 4 to… Read more
Dear HHLT, I am forever grateful to my uncle Russell Houghton and my cousins Allan and Patty Graves for donating a portion of the Royal Rest property on Orr’s Island to your organization. Knowing that the Houghton Graves Park is forever protected from development means so much to myself and my family. I can’t even… Read more
2023 marks a substantial milestone for Harpswell Heritage Land Trust: we are now 40 years old! From our formation by the Harpswell Historical Society, to our evolution from Harpswell Heritage Trust to Harpswell Heritage Land Trust, to our shift from an all-volunteer to a staffed organization, and our increase in the depth and breadth of… Read more
Introduction Harpswell Township is home to almost half of Casco Bay’s more than 200 islands, listing 98 islands within its borders. Four of these are the heavily-populated Great Island (formerly Sebascodegan Island), Dingley Island, Orr’s Island, and Bailey Island. That leaves 94 “outer” islands, accessible only by water or air. The exact count can be… Read more
Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys might have had a heyday at the Doughty Point and Island Preserve. Nancy and her friends George and Bess would try to drive her convertible roadster there and would be foiled! Dashed! You can’t get there by road. Instead, they’d kayak!! Frank and Joe Hardy might have zipped west… Read more