The third post in a surf scene theme (no surfers, though, sorry): This one was designed to appear as if the viewer is looking at a framed ocean view of the surf crashing upon the rocks….Peaks Island is located in the Casco Bay, about three miles from downtown Portland, and is actually part of the city of Portland. In the late 19th century it was a popular tourist destination and known as the Coney Island of Maine. Today it is still a popular vacation spot as well as being home to artists, retirees, and commuters. It has among it’s points of interest, the one of a kind Umbrella Cover Museum, WWI and WWII bunkers, the Fifth Maine Regiment House where Civil War Vets and their families spent their summers, and prior ties to Hollywood.
I wondered how the island got it’s name though; so went searching and came up with a published account in 1897 by author Nathan Goold, who wrote that there were evidently several names before the present one:
“The first known name of the island was Pond, but that name was changed by George Cleeve to Michael’s Island in 1637. Probably about 1661 it was called Munjoy’s Island, for George Munjoy, and then about 1670 it became known as Palmer’s Island, for John Palmer, which name it seems to have borne up to the re-settlement of the town in 1716, although it was then sometimes called Munjoy’s Island. Perhaps soon after the town was re-settled the island became to be known as Peaks Island, although there is no known reason why that name was taken. Joseph Peake was a soldier in Capt. Dominicus Jordan’s Company in 1744; he may be the man for whom it was named, as he must have lived at Cape Elizabeth or perhaps on the island. There appears no record of any person of that name ever owning the island before 1741, when it was called Peaks Island.”
Goold’s “author’s note” at the beginning of the book is a great one. He states his intent as to give the early story of Peaks and House Islands, and their families, and goes on to say, “It has been truly said that it is human to err, and if the reader finds that errors have crept into the narrative, it must be expected, as a perfect history has yet to be written.” So true!
Divided back, unused postcard. Publisher: G. W. Morris, Portland, Maine. Printed in Germany. Circa 1907 – 1914.
Price: $6.00
Sources: Peaks Island, Maine. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peaks_Island,_Maine (accessed 29 Aug 2014).
Morrill, Allison C. Peaks Island Maine. 2002- 2014. Web accessed 29 Aug 2014 [http://peaksislandmaine.net/Peaks.shtml]
Goold, Nathan. A History of Peaks Island And Its People. Also A Short History of House Island, Portland, Maine. Portland, ME: The Lakeside Press, 1897. p. 8. Web accessed 29 Aug 2014. Internet Archive. [https://archive.org/stream/historyofpeaksis00gool#page/n5/mode/2up]