place

Bustins Island

Freeport, MaineIslands of Casco BayIslands of Cumberland County, MaineIslands of MaineMaine geography stubs
Bustins Island public landing 2023
Bustins Island public landing 2023

Bustins Island is an island in inner Casco Bay, Maine, United States. It is part of the town of Freeport. Although physically located within Freeport, the Bustins Island Village Corporation is a self-governing entity. The island has approximately 117 summer cottages, with the earliest dating to the 18th century. The island's main road is Bustins Island Road, which loops around the island for about 1.5 miles (2.4 km). It is bisected by offshoot roads. Every island building stands beside one of the roads, allowing for easy access for trash removal.The island operates its own ferry, the Lilly B, which debarks from the South Freeport town wharf. Typically, the ferry operates from Memorial Day weekend through Columbus Day weekend. The ferry arrives at public dock at the southwestern tip of the island, but there is also a steamer dock on the island's western side. A public landing ramp is located at the northern end of the island.The island's interior is undeveloped because it is part of a resource protection area, which comprises parcels of land that are now protected against development. It, as with the rest of the island, is under constant threat of fire. There is no pressured water on the island, and since all of the cottages are over one hundred years old, they can be easily set alight accidentally. Six houses have burned to the ground over the years, the last in 2007. Due to this risk, no open fires or fire pits are permitted.The island is named for John Bustion, while its ferry, the Lilly B, is named for Lilly May Brewer (1906–1977), who, along with her husband Ralph (1900–1968), was the caretaker of Bustins during the 1950s and 1960s.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Bustins Island (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 43.800192 ° E -70.07176 °
placeShow on map

Address


04032
Maine, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Bustins Island public landing 2023
Bustins Island public landing 2023
Share experience

Nearby Places

Wolfe's Neck Farm

Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment (formerly Wolfe's Neck Farm) is a sustainable coastal farm in Freeport, Maine, United States. Located at 184 Burnett Road, the farm was established in 1959 by Philadelphia natives Eleanor Houston Smith (1910–1987) and Lawrence Smith (1902–1975).The farm was given to the University of Southern Maine by Eleanor Smith in 1985. Twelve years later, Wolfe's Neck Farm Foundation took over the management of the property.In addition to the farm, the property, which is situated on four miles (6.4 km) of Casco Bay coastline, also contains the main office building (located in the 1820s-built Little River House; renovated in 2017), a barn, a campground (Wolfe's Neck Oceanfront Camping at Recompence Shore Campground), a farm store and cafe, community gardens, hiking trails, the 1890-constructed Mallet Barn (at the end of Wolfe's Neck Road), the Banter House (restored in 2014; at the junction of Burnett and Wolfe's Neck Roads) and the Pote House and Barn (restored in 2017; on Wolfe's Neck Road). The Wishcamper Livestock Education Barn was built in 2017 where a barn, torn down in 2008, previously stood. An organic dairy barn, built at a cost of $1 million, opened in May 2019.Wolfe's Neck Farm was renamed Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment in October 2017. In 2019, Wolfe's Neck Center received a donation of $25,000 from Kennebec Savings Bank "to support enhancements to its facilities."

Means massacre
Means massacre

On May 10, 1756, the Means family of North Yarmouth, Province of Massachusetts Bay (today's Freeport, Maine), were attacked by Native Americans during the French and Indian War. It resulted in the deaths of two people. Although warning had been given about an Indian raid being in progress in the area, with the recommendation that outlying settlers should shelter in their nearest garrison house, the Means family decided to wait until the morning to go to Flying Point. They lived in a log cabin located near the shoreline, and the family consisted of 33-year-old farmer Thomas, his wife of seven years, Alice, daughters Alice and Jane, an infant son, Robert, and 16-year-old Molly (Mary) Finney, sister of the patriarch. Alice was pregnant with a second son, named Thomas at birth. Shortly after dawn, the family was dragged out of their home. Thomas was shot and scalped. Alice, carrying her baby, ran back into the house and barricaded the door. One of the attackers shot through a hole in the wall, killing the infant and puncturing his mother's breast. John Martin, who had been sleeping in another room, fired at them, causing them to flee.The Indians took with them Molly, whom they made follow them through the woods to Canada. Upon her arrival in Quebec, she was sold as a slave. A few months later, Captain William McLellan, of Falmouth, Maine (now Portland), was in Quebec in charge of a group of prisoners for exchange. He had known Molly before her capture and secretly arranged for her escape. He came below her window and threw her a rope which she slid down. McLellan brought her back to Falmouth on his vessel. They married shortly afterwards. Another source states that McLellan knew, at the time of her kidnap, that Mary would be taken to Quebec and tracked her down when he arrived there.Alice remarried, to Colonel George Rogers. Thomas is interred in Freeport's First Parish Cemetery, alongside his son. His wife is buried with her second husband in Flying Point Cemetery. His daughter, Alice, is buried at Old Harpswell Common Burying Ground, alongside her husband, Clement Skolfield, whom she married in 1773. Jane married Joseph Anderson, of Flying Point.The Means massacre was the last act of resistance by the indigenous people to occur within the limits of North Yarmouth.Thomas Means was born in December 1756, a few months after the death of his father and brother, in the garrison house at Flying Point. He went on to achieve the rank of major in the Continental Army. He died in 1828, aged 71 or 72, and is buried in Flying Point Cemetery. In 1932, a reenactment of the event was held in front of a large audience. Nearly all of the actors were descended from one of the Meanses involved.In July and August 2006, an exhibition commemorating the event was on view at Freeport's Harrington House, now the home of Freeport Historical Society.A nearby one-room former schoolhouse is named the Thomas Means Club in memory of the family's patriarch.

Casco Castle
Casco Castle

Casco Castle was a resort in South Freeport, Maine, United States. Built in 1903, it was intended to resemble a castle. Designed by William R. Miller and overlooking Casco Bay immediately to its east, it burned down in 1914. All that now remains is its 185-foot (56 m) tall stone tower, which is now on private property, inaccessible to the public. The tower can be viewed from Harraseeket Road, a few yards closer to the shoreline, or from Winslow Memorial Park, directly to the south across the Harraseeket River. The main part of the building was to the south, with the tower on its northern side, connected by a bridge.In 1903, Amos F. Gerald, of Fairfield, Maine, built the castle as a resort, with rooms for around one hundred guests, to encourage travel by trolleycars. It was his second attempt; the first, Merrymeeting Park, in Brunswick, Maine, was a failure. The grounds featured a hotel and restaurant, a picnic area, a baseball field, and a small zoo. The hotel burned in 1914, but its stone tower was spared. It stands today on private property. A popular place from which to view the tower is nearby Winslow Memorial Park.Trolleycars of the Portland & Brunswick Street Railway, of which Gerald was general manager, brought visitors from nearby Freeport. After alighting, they crossed 70 foot (21 m) above Spark Creek on a steel suspension bridge, then climbed steep steps to the hotel's entrance.Casco Castle Park was served by the Harpswell Steamboat Company, whose steamers stopped in South Freeport en route to and from Portland and Harpswell Center.The advent of the automobile contributed to the decline of trolley and steamer travel, and the resort closed in 1914 after an eleven-year run. It reopened the same year with new owners, but a fire broke out and destroyed the hotel. The stone tower survived.A photomechanical print of Casco Castle is in the archives of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.