Swan's Island is an island
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
in
Hancock County,
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
. It is named after Colonel James Swan of
Fife,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, who purchased the island and some surrounding areas and organized their colonization in the eighteenth century.
The population was 355 at the
2020 census. The town is accessible by
state ferry service from
Bass Harbor.
The island has a summertime population of approximately 1,000. There is a general store on the island, which opened in spring 2007, and at least one inn. There are also a number of small cottage-industry shops. The main industry is lobster fishing, which employs 40 people full-time and many others in part-time work.
Swan's Island is also home to the Sweet Chariot Music Festival, an annual summertime show of folk music and sea shanties.
History
Swan's Island was first charted in 1606 by
Samuel de Champlain's expedition, and at the time was used by local Indians as a seasonal hunting ground.
James Swan, a member of the
Sons of Liberty
The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It pl ...
and
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell t ...
participant, purchased the island in 1786. In 1791, David Smith, an
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
veteran, became the first settler of European extraction on the island.
The population grew slowly to more than 1,000 by 1900. Fish processing was the dominant industry into the 1930s, when it became no longer profitable in the area. The state-run ferry, which began service in 1960, helped make Swan's Island a popular summer tourism destination.
The ferry also is used to carry the mail to the island.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
There are three villages in the town: Swan's Island, Atlantic, and Minturn.
Demographics
2010 census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 2010, there were 332 people, 146 households, and 99 families living in the town. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
was . There were 483 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 96.1%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 0.9%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.9%
Native American, and 2.1% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 0.3% of the population.
There were 146 households, of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.8% were
married couples living together, 6.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 32.2% were non-families. 28.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.73.
The median age in the town was 46.3 years. 19.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.3% were from 25 to 44; 33.6% were from 45 to 64; and 17.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 52.1% male and 47.9% female.
2000 census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 2000, there were 327 people, 142 households, and 90 families living in the town. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
was 23.4 people per square mile (9.1/km
2). There were 421 housing units at an average density of 30.2 per square mile (11.7/km
2). The racial makeup of the town was 98.17%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 0.31%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, and 1.53% from two or more races.
There were 142 households, out of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them; 59.2% were married couples living together; 2.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were non-families. 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.9% under the age of 18; 8.3% from 18 to 24; 24.5% from 25 to 44; 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 18.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $28,438, and the median income for a family was $32,083. Males had a median income of $29,028 versus $18,750 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the town was $14,515. About 11.3% of families and 16.0% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 15.1% of those under age 18 and 21.7% of those age 65 or over.
Activities
A travel agency specializing in trails, describes attractions for the island that include six historic homes dating to the 1700s, a listing on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
, a
lighthouse, nature features that include nesting bald eagles, waterfowl, as well as deer, and trails, hiking, and camping.
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 ...
*
List of Hiking Trails in Maine
References
Further reading
A History of Swan's Island, Maine. By Herman Wesley Small. Published 1898.Island Indicators, Status report on Maine’s year-round island communities A report by the Island Institute 2015
External links
Town of Swan's IslandBurnt Coat Harbor Light HouseSwan's Island Elementary School
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Islands of Hancock County, Maine
Towns in Hancock County, Maine
Populated coastal places in Maine
Islands of Maine
Coastal islands of Maine