The weather was nearly perfect the other day when Bo and I revisited Wiscasset’s Cushman Preserve. Located off Birch Point Road, this land trust of over 100 acres is owned by Chewonki Foundation. I first visited this area almost 45 years ago when Margaret Stetson owned this property. Mrs. Stetson who had been very active in the Wiscasset community residedin the historic Wood-Foote House on the corner of High and Lee streets. It was her wish that after she died this mostly wooded peninsula be left in its natural state and given to Chewonki.

Parking for the preserve is on the roadside near the preserve’s entrance. The former tote road leading into it, now gated, is pretty much grown over with weeds. The path carries you past a large salt marsh called “Boom Cove,” a tidal inlet that got its name because long ago logging booms were kept here for a nearby saw mill. When the logs were needed they were floated through a hand-dug canal where the mill was located close to where Point East Drive is today. Most of the canal was filled in back in the 1940s when the entrance road to Mason Station was constructed and a railroad spur was added to supply the former Central Maine Power Co. power station with coal.

The path into the preserve runs downhill. Just before it divides you'll see where a stone dam was built across a stream. I've been told this was done in the 1940s to create a small freshwater pond were dairy cows were watered. On the opposite side from the dam is a deer path that skirts the cove’s shoreline. This leads you to what I think was a land bridge extending about halfway across the cove. Accessible at low tide, it rises to a rocky ledge offering a fine view of the cove.

Back-tracking to where the main path forks you’ll find the Margaret Stetson memorial stone set in the ground surrounded by ferns called “Maidenhair." Bo, my dog, and I proceeded from here on the northern path that carries you through a long meadow ending at the mouth of the cove. Passing through a gully I saw where a former weep spring is now completely dry, covered in blooming wild blue aster. Just a few inches of rain fell during July and August, and the dry spell has continued into September. From the meadow the path takes you through the woods to a small point. Here you’ll see roiling water rushing over the remains of a dam and the former Mason Station on the opposite shore, located on a larger peninsula called Birch Point. If you look carefully along the rocky shoreline you’ll find two iron boat rings, reminders of bygone days when this same area was home to two early industries engaged in lumber manufacturing and ice harvesting.

Walking back I noticed how over the years the woods have slowly encroached on the meadow. I was surprised at seeing dozens of small oak trees that have sprung up in the grass. On the riverside of the meadow there’s a small natural boat launch.  From it is a fine view of Back River, nearby Cushman Point and Westport Island. A short distance from here there used to be a small camp cabin where young people often gathered to enjoy themselves on the weekends. 

Wiscasset is fortunate to have this area to explore. I’ve visited this preserve many times and have rarely met anyone which kind of surprises me. Another time we’ll talk about the trail leading to the opposite side of the preserve that carries you over Cushman Mountain to Route 144.

Before closing a word or two about Mrs. Stetson. I mentioned she had a great interest in town affairs. This included being a lifetime member of the Wiscasset Female Charitable Society having hosted the event a number of times at her home.She was also a member of the Wiscasset Appeals Board and the selectboard’s Committee on the Appearance of the Town. Her father, Richmond White, was a one-time owner of White’s Island, which could be seen from their home’s front window. Her final resting place is in Woodlawn Cemetery on Birch Point Road that's fittingly in walking distance of Cushman Preserve.   

Phil Di Vece earned a B.A. in journalism studies from Colorado State University and an M.A. in journalism at the University of South Florida. He is the author of three Wiscasset books and is a frequent news contributor to the Boothbay Register/Wiscasset Newspaper. He resides in Wiscasset and can be reached by contacting Wiscasset Newspaper.