A lovely blend of ocean, islands, and of wooded shore; an ideal spot in which to live and labor; a place in which to while away the leisure hours of summer, or watch the departure of the swiftly passing years.

-- Melville Freeman, A History of Cape Porpoise

At a time when environmental challenges are great and successes often seem few, it is important to celebrate victories and achievements. The Kennebunkport Conservation Trust’s (KCT) decision to place 12 of its islands on the Trail this spring represents just such an accomplishment-a triumph of minds coming together to share and protect natural places on the coast of Maine.
Although MITA and KCT started our discussions about the Cape Porpoise islands just last year, this agreement has really been several decades in the making. Since 1988, MITA has been building a reputation for stewardship that has made it a desirable conservation partner for island owners up and down the coast. Meanwhile, since 1974, KCT has been doing its utmost to preserve properties with important wildlife and scenic value within the town of Kennebunkport. Our decision to join forces has been a natural outgrowth of our shared interest in promoting responsible public access to the land.

Humble Beginnings

The KCT began with a few good people getting together and acquiring properties in the Kennebunkport area to protect them from human abuse. To date, the organization, now overseen by a Board of Trustees and managed by an executive director, has protected 50 properties and over 1600 acres of land, through purchase, donations and conservation easements. The goal of each acquisition has been to protect the land and to allow thoughtful use while leaving the land “without a trace.”
KCT’s journey has not always been an easy one. The Cape Porpoise islands had been privately owned since the early days of European settlement. And there were area citizens who did not want any regulations imposed on the land. With Trust ownership, however, the islands would be available for use with some management restrictions. KCT understood that by involving and informing neighbors of their activity through the Trust, the worries over “managed land” might, perhaps, be mitigated. Their hunch has proved correct, and KCT has emerged as a vibrant and welcome member of the Kennebunkport community.
With the addition of the 12 Cape Porpoise islands to the Maine Island Trail comes a great opportunity and equally important responsibility for MITA members. Members will enjoy access to these properties as with other sites on the Trail; but we are also committed to providing stewardship in an area that falls well to the south of the Trail’s former terminus in Casco Bay.
Making the stretch will certainly be worth it. Campers may camp on three of the twelve islands; may walk to one of them at low tide; may hike through a mature pine forest; and may imagine how Indians sustained life here and how things went so terribly wrong between the natives and European settlers. Members may picnic on all of the islands and respectfully observe a seal rookery. There is a scenic 1833 lighthouse to explore, as well as the remains of a granite quarry, and numerous interesting geological features.

Ancient Past, European Arrival

Archaeological digs indicate that 11,000 years ago, paleoindian hunters came to the Kennebunk area to hunt bison and caribou. More recently, this seasonal tradition continued when Native Americans moved from the interior to the coast during warmer months. The first meetings with Europeans would likely have been with fishermen fishing for cod in these waters.
In 1604, French explorer Samuel de Champlain named the area “Le Port aux Isles” (Island Harbor). In 1614, however, Captain John Smith coined the current name when he referred to the area as “Cape Porpus” on his map.
In 1724, in an act suggesting a progressive view of land conservation but actually furthering an accepted method of common ownership of land, the citizens of Arundel, as the town was called, voted to conserve Stage Island and all of the islands of the town as common property for the use of all inhabitants. However, eight years later in 1732, circumventing that decision, a grant of land from the town was made to Thomas Perkins. That transfer referenced an old burial ground suggesting that earlier settlers had lived and certainly died in the area. While pondering these earlier events, a modern day explorer afoot on State Island may also observe a seal rookery in springtime and set a picnic on the sand beach of the southwestern shore.
Southeast of Stage, and separated from it at high tide, is Fort Island. In its early history of European settlement, a small stockade was built on this island. Today’s visitors may be reminded of the old structure when huddled in a small building useable as an emergency shelter. The oldest part of this shelter may have been built to house water tanks used to help remove gold from sea water during a mini-gold rush in this coastal region.
Named after John Redding, Redding’s Island stands as a testament to the 1690 European evacuation of the region in response to the Indian wars. Covered with low brush and poison ivy and surrounded by mud flats at low tide, one may enjoy the sandy beach on the south side in solitude.

War, Earthquakes, Resettlement

The early titles to lands could have become a nightmare for even the most studied real estate attorney, but the passage of time has resolved such problems. But, in the early 1700’s, after the Indian wars, resettlement of the area began and titles were reorganized. In 1725 the first church was built in Cape Porpoise. Shortly after, a local family was captured by Indians and in 1728 an earthquake shook the region. Trott Island weathered the assaults of Nature and land claims and remained uninhabited, enjoyed by picnickers and nature lovers. As likely then as now, trails wind through the fir and spruce forest. With 43 acres and 3 campsites, one may find solitude and views upon the ocean and woods.
With low tide mud flats and ledges open to wind and spray, the14-acre Cape Island is wild, exposed to the sea, and yet peaceful to shore. Access is from harbor side on a calm sea. Once there, a camper has three choices of camping sites, and a fire pit is provided. Early accounts of the island tell of wild cranberries on par with any cultivated varieties.
The first recorded grant of Goat Island was in 1648, and a series of transfers ensued. In 1820, Maine became a state, Kennebunk became a town and Arundel became Kennebunkport. In 1833, the United States Government decided to build a light house on Goat Island. As there was no deed record for Goat Island, the U.S. paid both Massachusetts and Maine for the purchase.
The establishment of the light warned mariners of the dangers lurking beneath the waters of Cape Porpoise. Between 1865 and 1920, 46 vessels were lost to the rocks near Goat-amazingly without any loss of life. In 1990, the lighthouse became the last Maine lighthouse to be automated. Although the lighthouse remains open to the public, the KCT has a caretaker on the island in the summer months, and respect for the privacy of the caretakers is a must.
At 46 acres, Vaughn Island edges out Trott as the largest of the islands. As with all of the islands on which camping is allowed, one must remember to obtain a permit at the Kennebunkport police station. If one is boatless, and perhaps shoeless, walking to Vaughn from Turbats Creek, a tidal estuary, is possible at low tide. (Shoeless types may enjoy the sand beach after the squishy stroll out!)

19th Century to Today

In the late 1880’s and early 1890’s, a real estate boom hit the area. Back on the mainland, a river club was built, Tuck’s Antique store opened, a trolley was built and a drawbridge was constructed across the creek to make Vaughn accessible. The land was advertised as “mosquitoless,” a claim which just might have been marketing hype. With no available fresh water, the development failed, the drawbridge collapsed, and now we may enjoy nature. Please report on the status of the mosquitoes.
Cow and Sheep or Milk and Savin Bush. Whichever names one chooses, these two islands (which we shall call Mill and Savin Bush) once had a house, a store, a wharf and a place to cure fish. By 1835, these buildings were gone. Whatever granite these buildings used for a foundation was then mined. Since then, the sea and waves have washed away whatever stood upon these rocks. Today sailors will take note that Savin Bush lies east of the channel’s red nun buoy.
In 1905 electricity was brought to Kennebunkport. In 1962 the Goat Island Light Bell stopped ringing and in history’s latest development, in 2005, the KCT and MITA joined hands in the stewardship of the 12 Cape Porpoise Islands, for all to enjoy, now and in the future.

Seeking Stewards

The price for keeping the islands “open” is not high, but it does take commitment. More good people are needed to understand the needs of the land, and to help manage it for preservation and enjoyment by all living creatures. Bob Haskell of KCT does his part to assure that there will be enough stewards to meet the need. In training classes, he schools KCT volunteers in the “Leave No Trace” ethic. Then, in a field-based setting, he imparts some basic skills and techniques for managing the land.
KCT has two levels of volunteers that are roughly analogous to MITA’s monitor skippers and adopters. The “True Stewards” work on a set schedule and are responsible for their assigned areas whenever they are on duty. Boatmanship and seamanship skills are taught and some familiarity with the islands is helpful. The “Observers” are a less formalized but equally important type of volunteer. They will observe the land, while passing by in a boat or hiking on their own time, and pass on information important for its management.
Why all this effort? There are plenty of good reasons, of course, but I like Bob Haskell’s reasoning the best. “I take my twelve year old daughter out to enjoy the islands,” he told me. “When I can teach her to look out her back door, without traveling hundreds or thousands of miles away, when she can appreciate what lives under a rock or what’s in a shell, then I’ve done something very valuable. I’m giving her something special. That’s our future."