Around this time last year, I received an email from Gaye Wagner of Westport Island asking if I’d send her a copy of a photograph she’d seen in my first book of Wiscasset stories. The picture, circa 1940s, was of the ferryboat used before the bridge was built linking Wiscasset with Westport; Gail thought it would be a nice addition to the Friends of Westport Island History collection. She also asked if I might be interested in visiting their History Center located at the site of the old ferry landing on Back River.

I sent her the picture she wanted, along with a more recent one I’d taken from an airplane of the Westport Bridge. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the History Center until just recently. As you might expect Gaye was kind of surprised when I emailed saying I wanted to take her up on her invitation. I’ll get to that visit in a moment. Gaye and her husband have called Westport home since 2005. Over the years she has worn a number of hats serving as town clerk, deputy town clerk and “Archivist," that is to say, the person assuming responsibility for preserving the island’s municipal and historical records. Gaye also serves as Trustee‑Secretary for the Friends of Westport Island History, a close‑knit group of volunteers who staff the History Center. 

Other than an occasional trip to Northend Lobster Co-op (where I usually buy my lobsters) I don’t get over to Westport very often. This wasn’t always the case. In 1983, we rented a home on East Shore Road, which is about a 10-minute drive from the bridge. We lived within walking distance of the Tarbox Inn and the old meeting house that's been used for the annual town meeting since 1885.  

It was a warm, rather sultry morning when I drove to 38 Ferry Road to the small, ranch-style house serving as the History Center and headquarters of Friends of Westport Island History. This spot known as “Wright Landing” is where the town’s boat launch is located and is popular with anglers and worm diggers. It’s a nice place too for a picnic lunch. Gaye was at the door to meet me along with her fellow Trustees Jean Wilhelmsen-Exter and Connie Ostis. All three women know a great deal about the island’s past, and like me are eager to share their knowledge of local history. A short time later, we were joined by Lexi Morton, a senior at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. This is the fourth summer Lexi has lent her expertise to the Friends by digitally scanning photographs. It’s quite a collection, too, and growing larger every year. 

The History Center features a permanent display telling the story of the island’s ferry service that carried travelers from Wiscasset to Westport from 1899 to 1950. Photographs, remarkable in their sharp detail, show a rectangular, flat-decked boat with no cabin, or covering of any kind. Two cars could squeeze onto its wooden deck, which had railings on either side. Trucks and larger vehicles had to be ferried one at a time back and forth across the river.   

Connie recalled the ferry crossings were always a highlight of her summer trips to Maine. She has vivid memories as a little girl, being in the family car with her brother and sisters watching out the window as the ferry boat carried them over the river. “As I remember it in the late 1940s, my father would drive our car down to the ferry landing on the Wiscasset side and honk the horn several times. That was the signal if you wanted to cross the river. Luther Cromwell who was the ferryman would then come across the river on the ferryboat and dad would drive the car up onto it.” Connie said her mother never cared much for the ferryboat ride especially if the wind was blowing hard and the waters were choppy.  

“The ferry was cable-driven,” added Jean. “In the early days of its operation, it was hand-operated so the ferrymen had to have strong arms and a strong back. Later they added a motor to do the pulling.” Jean showed me a small section of the ferry’s steel cable that’s on display. I was surprised to see it was less than a half-an-inch around. There are stories too of times when the cable snapped in rough water sending the ferry occupants on an unexpected ride. At one point in its history the ferry toll for an automobile and driver was 25 cents, plus 5 cents for each passenger in the car.  

Since September, the History Center has featured a fascinating series of panels telling the story of lower Heal Cove located off West Shore Road. In the short time it took to read the panels, visitors could travel back to the 1770s and the arrival of Timothy Dunton who first settled in Woolwich in 1740 but found island life more to his liking. The Duntons were among the first settlers on Westport then known as, “Jeremysquam." Here along the shores of the place now known as Heal Cove, the Duntons erected a dam and built a lumber and grist mill making use of tidal power to operate them. The lumber mill proved highly successful expanding and changing hands a number of times over the decades. The display featured photographs, documentation and artifacts including hand-forged lumber hooks, and tongs. There was also a sharp-toothed, two-man buck saw to be seen hanging over the fireplace. Most of the display items were from Connie’s family collection. Her parents Jack and Jean Smith purchased a farmhouse near the mill site in the 1940s, the home where Connie now lives year-round and enjoys the view of the river. 

The Heal Cove exhibit ended June 29. Gaye said the History Center would then close briefly while a new exhibit featuring the historic Brooks Farm is put on display. The Brooks Farm, now the home of David and Joan Bradford, is where the Friends will be holding their annual “History Alive!” gathering on Sunday, July 13, from 4 to 7. The History Center is open to visitors Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. and Thursdays from 4 to 6 through the summer.   

The Friends of Westport Island History was formed in 2018 and currently has a little over 100 active members. The organization was just given a show of confidence at town meeting. Voters passed an article in support of providing the group with a long-term lease of their building. The Friends have a lot of future plans for improving their History Center and are always in need of volunteer help and financial support. To learn more, email info@fowih.org

Phil Di Vece earned a B.A. in journalism studies from Colorado State University, Fort Collins and an M.A. in journalism at the University of South Florida Tampa-St. Petersburg. He is the author of three Wiscasset books and is a frequent news contributor to the Boothbay Register/Wiscasset Newspaper. He resides in Wiscasset. Contact him at pdivece@roadrunner.com