Bailey Island (Maine)

Bailey Island
Bailey Island
Census-designated place
	Coordinates: 43°44′15″N 69°59′37″W / 43.73750°N 69.99361°W
Country	United States
State	Maine
County	Cumberland
Town	Harpswell
Population (2020)
• Total	400
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Area code	207

Bailey Island is an island in Casco Bay, and a part of the town of Harpswell, in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. As of the 2000 census, the island had a year-round population of 400.

History

Bailey Island originally bore the name Newaggin, given to it by the local Abenaki Native Americans, and was first populated by European settlers in the 17th century.

The first settler of the island was William Black, son of Black Will, who was a freed slave from Kittery. William sold the land his father had left him in the Upper Parish of Kittery and settled permanently on Bailey's Island. Because of this, the island became known as Will's Island.

The story goes that in 1742, Reverend Timothy Bailey may have bought Will's Island for one pound of tobacco and a gallon of rum from William Black. In another variation of the story, the minister's wife liked the island, so the Baileys bribed municipal officials to find a flaw in Will's title to the island and award it to them. In any event, after Timothy Bailey and his wife took possession of the island, William Black left to live on Orr's Island. From then on, the island was known as Bailey Island.

On July 27, 2020, Bailey Island was the site of the only fatal shark attack in Maine's recorded history. A 63-year-old woman from New York City was fatally mauled by a confirmed great white shark while swimming with her daughter. She was only twenty yards from shore.^[1]

Bridge

The Bailey Island Bridge, which spans Will's Gut and connects Bailey Island to Orr's Island, was completed in 1928. Will's Gut is the only geographical feature that still bears the name of the original non-native inhabitant of the island. It is the only cribstone bridge in the world, which is made up of rocks, sand and gravel. The unique cribstone design of the bridge permits the substantial tides of that area to flow freely through it, greatly reducing the effect that flow would otherwise have on boats transiting its narrow channel opening.

Notable people

Three prominent female psychoanalysts—Esther Harding, Eleanor Bertine and Kristine Mann—were followers of Carl Jung and long-time summer residents of Bailey Island. Kristine Mann, known in Jung's work as ″Miss X”, was one of Jung's subjects. Jung is also known to have visited Bailey Island and to have lectured at the Bailey Island Library Hall. Kristine Mann's sister, Anna Mann Richardson, also studied with Jung and spent summers on Bailey Island.

Illustrator Ida Waugh and writer Amy Ella Blanchard, lifelong companions, owned adjacent summer cottages on the island. Together, they organized the founding of a summer chapel for the Episcopal church. The chapel was completed in 1916.^[2]^[3]

Frank Aydelotte, president of Swarthmore College, summered at Bailey Island where he became acquainted with Holbrook Mann MacNeille and Stephan Mann MacNeille in the 1920s. The MacNeilles were nephews of Kristine Mann and Anna Mann Richardson. With Aydelotte's encouragement, both attended Swarthmore and later went on to lead distinguished careers in physics and mathematics.

Another prominent summer resident was the Civil War-era composer George Frederick Root, who died on August 6, 1895, while summering on the island.^[4]

Landmarks

Mackerel Cove, one of the most photographed places in Maine;
Land's End, a rocky beach at the end of the island;
the Maine Lobsterman, a bronze statue originally created for the 1939 World's Fair;
The Giant Stairs (also known as "The Giant's Steps"), a rock formation on the edge of the island resembling a large flight of stairs;
"The Nubble", an often-photographed bait shack where all the local lobstermen leave their buoys;
Two World War II-era fire control towers near the southern tip of the island.

References

^ Garger, Kenneth (July 29, 2020). "NYC woman killed by shark in Maine 'just started screaming': neighbor". New York Post. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
^ "Ida Waugh". Reusable Art. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
^ "Mr. John R. Haug". Retrieved September 14, 2017.
^ David Mason Greene (1985). Greene's Biographical Encyclopedia of Composers. Reproducing Piano Roll Fnd. p. 650. ISBN 978-0-385-14278-6.

Nancy Orr Johnson Jensen, Bailey Island: Memories, Pictures & Lore, Mayhaven Publishing, 2003, ISBN 1-878044-96-6.
Harpswell Historical Society Website
Beth E. Hill (1992), The Evolution of Bailey's Island

Peter P. Hill, Ph.D, "Summer Days and Childhood Shenanigans" https://maineboats.com/print/issue-145/summer-days-and-childhood-shenanigans

External links

Photograph of the Bailey Island ferry, ca. 1910, from the Maine Memory Network

[1] Garger, Kenneth (July 29, 2020). "NYC woman killed by shark in Maine 'just started screaming': neighbor". New York Post. Retrieved September 21, 2020.

[Reusable_Art-2] "Ida Waugh". Reusable Art. Retrieved September 14, 2017.

[Haug-3] "Mr. John R. Haug". Retrieved September 14, 2017.

[Greene1985-4] David Mason Greene (1985). Greene's Biographical Encyclopedia of Composers. Reproducing Piano Roll Fnd. p. 650. ISBN 978-0-385-14278-6.

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v t e Islands of Maine
Cumberland	Bailey Birch Bustins Cliff Cousins Cow Cushing Dingley Eagle Frye Great Chebeague Great Diamond Hog Hope House Jewell Little Chebeague Little Diamond Littlejohn Long Mackworth Orr's Peaks Ragged Sebascodegan
Hancock	Bar Cranberry Isles Baker Bear Great Cranberry Little Cranberry Sutton Deer Isle Eagle Great Duck Great Spruce Head Little Deer Long Marshall Mount Desert Nautilus Porcupine Islands Spectacle Swan's Verona
Knox	Allen Criehaven Curtis Eastern Egg Rock Franklin Isle au Haut Lane's Matinicus Metinic North Haven Seal Two Bush Vinalhaven Whitehead
Lincoln	Burnt the Cuckolds Damariscove Hog Louds Manana Monhegan Squirrel Westport Witch
Penobscot	Ayers
Piscataquis	Gero Sugar
Sagadahoc	Arrowsic Harbor Malaga Pond Swan
Waldo	Islesboro Sears Warren
Washington	Birch Islands Cross Great Wass Machias Seal^† Moose North Rock^† Saint Croix
York	Badger's Boon Seavey's Isles of Shoals Appledore Smuttynose
^† Disputed between the United States and Canada.

v t e Municipalities and communities of Cumberland County, Maine, United States
County seat: Portland
Cities	Portland South Portland Westbrook	Cumberland County map
Towns	Baldwin Bridgton Brunswick Cape Elizabeth Casco Chebeague Island Cumberland Falmouth Freeport Frye Island Gorham Gray Harpswell Harrison Long Island Naples New Gloucester North Yarmouth Pownal Raymond Scarborough Sebago Standish Windham Yarmouth
CDPs	Bridgton Brunswick Brunswick Station Casco Cousins Island Cumberland Center Dunstan Falmouth Falmouth Foreside Freeport Gorham Gray Little Falls Littlejohn Island Naples North Windham Oak Hill South Windham Standish Steep Falls Yarmouth
Other villages	Bailey Island Casco Terrace Higgins Beach North Bridgton Orrs Island Prouts Neck Sebago Lake South Casco South Freeport
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