|
Chebeague Island is an island town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, located in Casco Bay, from Portland. These islands are sometimes referred to as an older, now archaic term "The Calendar Islands" because there was once a belief that the approximate number of islands was 365. The actual number is fewer than two hundred. Great Chebeague was a part of the town of Cumberland until July 1, 2007, when it became the town of Chebeague Island.〔NPR ("Maine Island Celebrates New Independence" ) 2007-07-04. Accessed 2011-02-11.〕 As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 341. Two ferry services provide transportation to the island. The Chebeague Transportation Company (CTC) makes the 15-minute run from Cousins Island, which in turn is connected by bridge to Yarmouth. Casco Bay Lines also provides service on all mail-boat and other "down-bay" trips that travel beyond Long Island. Chebeague Island is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area. == History == According to island lore, the name "Chebeague" comes from a Native American word meaning "Island of Many Springs" (pronounced "sha-big"), as there are, indeed, many deep-running, underground fresh-water streams all over the island, in some places literally bubbling from the ground. Some Native Americans were still present after the European colonization of the area, as late as the 1870s. The Native Americans did not dwell year-round on the island but paddled over by canoe during the summer months to fish. One can still notice areas of the island where clam shells are abundantly packed into the soil. This is mostly due to "shell piles" the Indians regularly made after their meals. Original settlers in 1730 cleared much of the land for farming. Lobsters were so plentiful that they were not eaten, but rather used as fertilizer for fields. Great Chebeague was once home to the famous "stone sloops" that carried quarried granite down the eastern seaboard, and marine contractors who built breakwaters, lighthouses, and set navigational markers. By the late 19th century and throughout the early 20th century, tourists from Canada, Boston and points south began to visit Maine in a phenomenon sometimes known as the "rusticators" movement.〔Woodard, Colin. (''The Lobster Coast'' ). New York. Viking/Penguin, ISBN 0-670-03324-3, 2004〕 Cottages, rooming houses, and inns, such as the historic (but rebuilt) Chebeague Island Inn, were scattered around Casco Bay, served by steamboats from Portland where crowds of tourists from the industrial cities of New England could get back to nature for a few days or weeks.〔Frappier, William. ''Steamboat Yesterdays of Casco Bay''. Stoddart, Canada, ISBN 978-1-55046-086-5, 2000〕 This tradition faded some, but continues to this day. Many of those who visit Chebeague in summer are middle-class workers from towns and cities as far south as North Carolina, who have a family "cottage" on the island, one that has been passed down through generations. In 2002 Chebeague Island explored secession from Cumberland, with whom they had been tied for 184 years. The initiative gained traction after school district 51 considered downsizing the island elementary school. The island won independence from Cumberland after votes in the Maine Senate (31-3) and House of Representatives (131-1) on April 5, 2006. () The separation took effect on July 1, 2007.〔(One town's Independence Day: Maine island seceding from Portland suburb to secure its future ), ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'', 2007-06-30. Accessed 2008-06-25.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Chebeague Island, Maine」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|