Moose Island is an island in
Eastport, Maine
Eastport is a city and archipelago in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2020 census, making Eastport the least-populous city in Maine. The principal island is Moose Island, which is connected to the mainla ...
located at the entrance to
Cobscook Bay
Cobscook Bay is located in Washington County in the state of Maine. It opens into Passamaquoddy Bay, within the Bay of Fundy. Cobscook Bay is immediately south of the island city of Eastport, the main island of which (Moose Island) straddles the ...
from
Passamaquoddy Bay
Passamaquoddy Bay (french: Baie de Passamaquoddy) is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy, between the U.S. state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick, at the mouth of the St. Croix River. Most of the bay lies within Canada, with its w ...
in the
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy (french: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its extremely high tidal range is the hi ...
. It is part of
Shackford Head State Park.
Connected to the mainland portion of
Washington County at
Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation
Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation ( Maliseet-Passamaquoddy: ''Sipayik'') is one of two reservations of the federally recognized Passamaquoddy tribe in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 692 as of the 2020 census.
...
by a
causeway
A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...
, the city of
Eastport occupies several islands, including its major land mass, Moose Island. Other islands comprising the city include Carlow Island, Spectacle Island, Goose Island, and Treat Island, along with other islets. Quoddy Village lies at the north-western end of Moose Island, while the city's downtown lies at the eastern end of the island. The
Eastport Municipal Airport
Eastport Municipal Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located one nautical mile (1.85 km) west of the central business district of Eastport, a city in Washington County, Maine, United States.
Although most U.S. airports use the same ...
lies between
Quoddy Village and downtown Eastport.
History
During the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
, British naval forces seized Moose Island while taking control of the entire Maine coast from
Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay (french: Baie de Penobscot) is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine and Atlantic Ocean in south central Maine. The bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River, downriver from Belfast, Maine, Belfast. Penobscot Bay has many ...
to the
St. Croix River.
Following the war, the United States relinquished its claim in 1817 on several larger islands in the Bay of Fundy that Britain also claimed: (
Campobello Island
Campobello Island (, also ) is the largest and only inhabited island in Campobello, a civil parish in southwestern New Brunswick, Canada, near the border with Maine, United States. The island's permanent population in 2021 was 949. It is the si ...
,
Deer Island,
Grand Manan Island
Grand Manan is a Canadian island in the Bay of Fundy. Grand Manan is also the name of an incorporated village, which includes the main island and all of its adjacent islands, except White Head Island. It is governed as a village and is part of t ...
). In return, Britain relinquished its claim on islands in
Cobscook Bay
Cobscook Bay is located in Washington County in the state of Maine. It opens into Passamaquoddy Bay, within the Bay of Fundy. Cobscook Bay is immediately south of the island city of Eastport, the main island of which (Moose Island) straddles the ...
.
During the 1930s, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
promoted the ill-fated
Quoddy Project as a
tidal power
Tidal power or tidal energy is harnessed by converting energy from tides into useful forms of power, mainly electricity using various methods.
Although not yet widely used, tidal energy has the potential for future electricity generation. Ti ...
project for the
Cobscook Bay
Cobscook Bay is located in Washington County in the state of Maine. It opens into Passamaquoddy Bay, within the Bay of Fundy. Cobscook Bay is immediately south of the island city of Eastport, the main island of which (Moose Island) straddles the ...
area as part of his
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
through the
Public Works Administration
The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recove ...
. Part of this project involved construction of a tidal barrage between Moose Island and Pleasant Point to contain the waters of Cobscook Bay, resulting in the present-day causeway carrying
Maine State Route 190
State Route 190 (SR 190) is a state highway that travels from Water Street in Eastport to U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Perry. It serves as the connector route to Eastport from the mainland. Though the road travels in a southeast–northwest ...
and the abandoned
Maine Central Railroad
The Maine Central Railroad Company was a U. S. Class I railroad in central and southern Maine. It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. By 1884, Maine Central was the longest railroad in New England. Maine Central had expanded to w ...
. However, the railroad was built 1897-1898, on trestles between islands, to reach Moose Island. The causeway filled in where the trestles ran.
Moose Island is the birthplace of
Brigadier General James Henry Carleton (b. 1814), commander of
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
and architect of the infamous
Long Walk of the Navajo
The Long Walk of the Navajo, also called the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo ( nv, Hwéeldi), was the 1864 deportation and attempted ethnic cleansing of the Navajo people by the United States federal government. Navajos were forced to walk from t ...
. Author Hampton Sides states: "The time of Carleton's youth was a fragile period in the history of eastern Maine. During the War of 1812, British forces had occupied most of Maine east of the
Penobscot River
The Penobscot River (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 22, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's We ...
and annexed the territory to New Brunswick....Some have speculated that it was Carleton's memory of this unpleasant experience from his adolescence—of his family having to endure a bitter, protracted, worrisome dispute along what amounted to a wild frontier—that gave him later in life such an urgent impatience to solve the Navajo problem with clean, stark finality."
"Moose Island, Maine" was the fictional location where Jimmy Olsen's Aunt Louisa lived in the first season, second episode of "Adventures of Superman" which originally aired on September 26, 1952.
['The Haunted Lighthouse', S1 E2, "The Adventures of Superman", 1952.]
See also
*
List of islands of Maine
This list primarily derives from the Maine Coastal Island Registry, a database of the 3166 coastal islands from the largest (Mount Desert Island) to the smallest islets and ledges exposed above mean high tide. Some notable inland freshwater island ...
References
{{authority control
Islands of Washington County, Maine
Eastport, Maine
Islands of Maine
Coastal islands of Maine