- Malaga Island
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Malaga Island Malago Island, Brant Island [1] Island Country 
United StatesState Maine Municipality Phippsburg[2] Elevation 11 m (36 ft) Coordinates 43°46′54″N 069°52′30″W / 43.78167°N 69.875°W Area 0.0641 sq mi (0 km2) Owner Maine Coast Heritage Trust [3] Malaga Island is a 41-acre (170,000 m2) island at the mouth of the New Meadows River in Casco Bay, Maine. It was the site of an interracial community from the Civil War until 1911, when the residents were forcibly evicted from the island.[4]
The Casco Bay Breeze and other newspapers nosed around in the 1890s, then printed stories about a "degenerate colony," whose indiscretions included use of tobacco and of tea. The towns of Phippsburg and Harpswell fought not to take jurisdiction over the settlement, and in 1905 the State of Maine took responsibility for this poor island community that nobody wanted. The State built a school and furnished a schoolteacher and began focusing its attention on the unorthodox community.
While some authorities saw improvement in the island, Governor Frederick W. Plaisted saw blight on his state’s reputation. His ranting and threats caused a few Malaga Islanders to float their houses and their lives to the nearby mainland, where their descendants have blended in. In 1912, the governor went to Malaga as the head of a clean-up party, consisting of members of his Council. They evicted the remaining families, dug up the graves, and took the living and the dead to the Maine School for the Feeble-Minded in Pownal. Then the governor and his party torched the community’s buildings.
On April 7, 2010, Maine legislators finally issued an official statement of regret for the Malaga incident, but did so without notifying descendants and other stakeholders either before or after the fact. The "public" apology didn't become known to the public until nearly four months later, when an article appeared in a monthly magazine, Down East, which also procured a statement of regret by Governor John Baldacci.[5]
Contents
Further reading
- The Shame of Maine (Steve Mitchell, 1999)
- Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (Gary Schmidt, 2004)
- BLOG - AndreaBrand.com
- BLOG - AndreaBrand.com
- BLOG - AndreaBrand.com
- BLOG - AndreaBrand.com
See also
- List of islands of Maine
References
- ^ "Malaga Island". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:570684. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
- ^ "Malaga Island in Phippsburg". Christian Science Monitor. 1911-04-14. "Attorney General Pattangall reported yesterday that in his opinion Malaga island in the New Meadows river is owned by the heirs of Eli Perry and that the island is in the town of Phippsburg."
- ^ Dubrule, Deborah (August 2005). "Malaga, revisited: On a Casco Bay island, a shameful incident in Maine's history comes to light". Working Waterfront. http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Malaga-revisited-On-a-Casco-Bay-island-a-shameful-incident-in-Maines-history-comes-to-light/10893/.
- ^ Grieco, Jan (October 2004). "Shudder Island". Portland Magazine. http://www.maine.rr.com/04/portmag/malaga/default.asp.
- ^ Colin Woodard, "A Quiet Apology," Down East, August 2010
links
Categories:- African American history of Maine
- Islands of Sagadahoc County, Maine
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