Fort Williams (Maine)

Fort Williams Park is a 90-acre park in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, encompassing numerous historical sites. Perhaps most famous for having Portland Head Light on its grounds, the park also encompasses the decommissioned and largely demolished United States Army post Fort Williams, which was operational during World War I and World War II.

Annie C. Maguire was a British three-masted barque sailing from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 24 December 1886, when she struck the ledge at Portland Head Light, Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Lighthouse Keeper Joshua Strout, his son, wife, and volunteers rigged an ordinary ladder as a gangplank between the shore and the ledge against which the ship was heeled. Captain O'Neil, the ship's master, his wife, two mates, and the nine-man crew clambered onto the ledge and then, one by one, crossed the ladder to safety. The cause of the wreck is puzzling, since visibility was not a problem. Members of the crew reported they "plainly saw Portland Light before the disaster and are unable to account for same."Today, letters painted on the rocks below the lighthouse commemorate the wreck and the Christmas Eve rescue.

Portland Head Light is a historic lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The light station sits on a head of land at the entrance of the primary shipping channel into Portland Harbor, which is within Casco Bay in the Gulf of Maine. Completed in 1791, it is the oldest lighthouse in Maine. The light station is automated, and the tower, beacon, and foghorn are maintained by the United States Coast Guard, while the former lighthouse keepers' house is a maritime museum within Fort Williams Park.

The C.A. Brown Cottage is a historic summer house at 9 Delano Park in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Built in 1886–87, it is a fine local example of the Shingle Style then popular for such properties, and is an important mature work in that style of Portland architect John Calvin Stevens. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Beckett's Castle is a historic summer house on Singles Road in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. A picturesque two-story stone building with a three-story tower, it was built in 1871-74 by Sylvester Beckett, a Portland lawyer and a major figure in the city's literary scene. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, for its association with Beckett, and for its distinctive Gothic architecture.

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.

Ram Island Ledge Light is a lighthouse in Casco Bay, Maine, United States, marking the northern end of the main channel leading the harbor of Portland, Maine.

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 1904-1950. The fort's name is sometimes misspelled as "Fort Leavitt".

Willard Beach is a beach and neighborhood in South Portland, Maine. The beach, which covers 4 acres (1.6 ha), used for swimming as well as commercial and recreational boating. Southern Maine Community College abuts the beach. Willard Beach is known for its views of Spring Point Ledge Light as well as island forts including Fort Gorges. WillardFest is an annual one day neighborhood festival which began in 2012.

Old Settlers Cemetery, also known as Thrasher Cemetery, is a historic cemetery in South Portland, Maine, United States. South Portland's oldest landmark, dating to 1658, it stands today in the grounds of Southern Maine Community College, adjacent to Willard Beach. There are eighteen marked graves in the cemetery, but it is believed there are several more unmarked burials. The oldest visible burial is that of Ann Simonton, a Scot from today's Argyll and Bute, who died in April 1744. Seven headstones are of members of the Thrasher family, hence the cemetery's alternative name.The cemetery was abandoned around 1678 due to the outbreak of King Philip's War, which forced locals to flee the area. Nine families returned to the area around the turn of the 18th century, but in 1703 twenty-five of them were killed by a local Native American tribe, and an additional eight were captured.Re-settlement was again attempted in 1716, this time without conflict.In 1976, to mark the bicentenary of the United States, the cemetery was refurbished by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration, with landscaping and the installation of a new fence.The cemetery is maintained, on an annual basis, by students of the college.

House Island is a private island in Portland Harbor in Casco Bay, Maine, United States. It is part of the City of Portland. The island is accessible only by boat. Public access is prohibited, except for an on-request tour sanctioned by the island's owners. House Island includes three buildings on the east side and Fort Scammell on the west side. The buildings are used as vacation rentals and other summer residences. The island's name derives from the site of an early European house, believed that built by Capt. Christopher Levett, an English explorer of the region.[1][2]The island sold for $5.35m in 2022.

Fort Preble was a military fort in South Portland, Maine, United States, built in 1808 and progressively added to through 1906. The fort was active during all major wars from the War of 1812 through World War II. The fort was deactivated in 1950. It is now on the campus of Southern Maine Community College.