History Committee

Visit the Westport Island History Center, 38 Ferry Road, on Sundays from 12 noon to 2 pm or email us at: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to arrange a convenient time to visit. Through Winter 2021, My Island Home: Recollections of Verlie Colby-Greenleaf is on exhibit and a volunteer is on site to answer questions about the collection and assist with research. Events scheduled throughout the year will be listed on the website Calendar.

Regular monthly meetings are open to the public and are held at the History Center on the last Wednesday of the month at 4:30 pm. Any schedule changes will be noted on the Calendar.

Background

Westport is a small island community that has often been isolated from its neighbors and the region.  Until the 1950’s, access to the mainland was by ferry or boat (the current bridge was built in the early 1970s).  Yet our pre-history goes back to Native Americans and to an early 1600s trip by Champlain via the Back River and Upper Hell Gate.  Westport Island used to be called Jeremysquam, an anglicized version of a Native American term. 

Westport Island was part of Edgecomb from that town’s incorporation until 1828 when Westport broke away.  Early settlement paralleled other coastal communities, with land clearing, farming, shipbuilding, fishing and millwork.  The small coves of the island were perfect sites for small boat-building.  The Hodgdon family of East Boothbay fame first settled on Westport and built vessels here.  Tide mills were the main source of power and significant ruins remain of two of these. 

At the north end of the island was an earthenworks fort, Fort McDonough, built in 1814 in support of Fort Edgecomb in protection of Wiscasset harbor during the War of 1812.  Though the fort is now gone, it remains of historical and archaeological interest to the town and to the Maine Historic Preservation Commission which has surveyed the property.

What we do

The Westport Island History Committee is a volunteer organization dedicated to advising Westport Island Select Board on the pursuit, preservation and promotion of the Island’s proud history and rich cultural heritage.

Examples of recent activities, include:

  • Improving storage conditions and implementing cataloging and other processes for archival town records and holdings of the History Committee;
  • Transcribing, scanning, researching and building upon collections;
  • Establishing a presence on the Maine Memory Network (MMN) digital library to provide access to a selection of archival photographs, maps, letters and exhibits; and
  • Hosting a talk by author and Maine State Historian Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr. on the Lincoln County Photographs of E. Joseph Leighton.
  • Hosting an Historic Homes Tour.
  • Co-curating with the Maine Memory Network a photographic exhibit, "My Island Home," at the Maine Historical Society in Portland.

The Committee’s members are a combination of newcomers, long-time residents, and native Westporters.  It is exciting when local families offer a donation to our collections, either from long-ago generations of ship chandlers, mill owners, and fishermen, or more recent times.  The Committee’s work has inspired pride and brought awareness to the importance of preserving our heritage and keeping it locally accessible.

In 2018, the non-profit "Friends of Westport Island History" (Friends) was formed to expand upon efforts to preserve and share our rich Island history. To learn more and become a member, see the Friends of Westport Island History page.

History Committee Minutes

For a more complete picture of the work that currently engages the History Committee, see our monthly minutes for last year below.

March 2022 Minutes

February 2022 Minutes

January 2022 Minutes

December 2021 Minutes

November 2021 Minutes

October 2021 Minutes

September 2021 Minutes

August 2021 Minutes

July 2021 Minutes

June 2021 Minutes

May 2021 Minutes

April 2021 Minutes

Informational Resources

Maine Memory Network

Mural Mystery in the Cornelius Tarbox House Exhibit

Learning to Fly and Instructing Cadets at Westpoint During WWII, Vera Cleaves, Westport Island

Maine State Archives Genealogy Resources

Members

Name Position Term Expires Phone
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Co-Chair 2024 (207) 233-3862
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Co-Chair 2026 (703) 424-3510
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Secretary/Associate Member 2024  
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Treasurer 2024 (207) 776-2015
Anne Cole-Fairfield Member 2024  
Dennis Dunbar Member 2025  
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Member 2024 (207) 380-4476
Ken Swanton Member 2024  
Paul Bonyun Member 2024  
Callie Connor Associate Member 2024  
Connie Ostis Associate Member 2024  
Dedee Greenleaf-Hodgdon Associate Member 2024  
George D. Richardson, Jr. Associate Member 2024  
Louana Frois Associate Member 2024  
Mary Ellen Barnes Associate Member 2024  
Ruth-Laurayne Presby Associate Member 2024