Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
BURIED TREASURE OF CASCO BAY:
A Guide For The Modern Hunter
B. F. KENNEDY, JR.
Forest City Printing Company
South Portland, Maine
THIRD PRINTING
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole
or in part in any form.
Copyright © 1963 by B. F. Kennedy, Jr.
_To my father:
B. F. KENNEDY, Sr.
who loved
Casco Bay very much.
B. K._
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The following people helped me greatly in the compilation of this book.
The Author
Miss Jessie B. Trefethen
Peaks Island, Maine
Mr. Herbert G. Jones
Portland, Maine
Mr. Francis O'Brien
Portland, Maine
Mr. Martin Coombs
South Portland, Maine
INTRODUCTION
This little endeavor of mine that follows, is a small effort in a
literary way, to acquaint the reader with modern methods and information
on the art of treasure hunting and various facts and locations of same.
The Author sincerely hopes that you gather some information and
entertainment from the reading of this book.
THE AUTHOR
April 14, 1962
CONTENTS
How Treasure was Buried 19
Fort Gorges 21
Fort Scammell 23
Peaks Island 25
Cushing's Island 27
Willard Beach 29
Portland Head Light 31
Cliff Island 33
Richmond's Island 35
Turner's Island 37
Eastern Shore Line, Portland 39
Cape Elizabeth Shore Line 41
Mackworth's Island 43
Jewell's Island 45
Great Chebeague Island 47
Great Diamond Island 49
Pond Island 51
Fort Preble 53
French's Island 55
Bailey's Island 57
Orr's Island 59
Harpswell Neck 63
Shelter Island 67
Long Island 69
Pettengill Island 71
Sebascodegan or Great Island 73
Treasure Hunting Equipment 75
Bibliography 77
_About the Author_
-- Retired in 1976 --
_Now City Historian for South Portland, Maine_
B. F. Kennedy, Jr. was born in Portland, Maine in 1916 and has spent
most of his life in this area, attending grammar school and high school
in Portland. Mr. Kennedy has also worked as a ship chandler and a
drugstore clerk. A collector by nature, his favorite hobbies besides
treasure-hunting are bottle collecting and mineralogy.
The author has done extensive research on buried and sunken treasure
locales. Working on information furnished by Mr. Kennedy, scuba divers
located three brass Revolutionary War cannons just off Portland Head
light. Mr. Kennedy has personally located old coins, an Indian axe circa
1640, and other valuable artifacts, often traveling as far from Portland
as Key West, Florida. On his days off or on his vacations, the author
can usually be found with his trusty metal detector scouting for more
treasure.
Mr. Kennedy is married, with no children.
FOREWORD
The locations given in this book do not guarantee that you will find
treasure there, or anywhere in Casco Bay. These locations are places
where history took place, maybe you will find treasure and maybe not.
The Author does not want to mislead you into thinking, that if you dig
at any of these locations; you will find buried treasure.
B. KENNEDY
BURIED TREASURE OF CASCO BAY:
A Guide For The Modern Hunter
CHAPTER I
HOW TREASURE WAS BURIED
The word, "treasure," has excited people the world over for centuries.
When we were mere children we read about hidden treasure being buried on
lonely isles, by bands of cutthroat pirates, also the burying of caches
of money by the outlaws and bandits of the old West.
The early settlers were always hiding their money from the Indians and
bandits, and the best place to put their money was, of course, in the
ground, as they had no bank vaults in which to keep it safe.
So down through the years thousands of dollars in coin was hidden in
this fashion. Many of these caches are being discovered today in the
back yards of rustic old houses, in old wells, along the stone walls of
century-old homesteads, in fact almost anywhere around the property.
The many islands in Casco Bay were choice locations for the early
settlers; to settle on an island was one way to slow up the advance of
Indian raiding parties. The Indians, of course, would raid some of the
islands; but it was not convenient for them because of the trip across
the open water in order to reach their destination; therefore many
treasures that were buried on these islands still remain to be
discovered by the modern day treasure hunter. A good many of these
hidden caches were buried in old iron kettles, tough bags made of animal
hides, old iron chests and almost anything that would keep the coins
from getting too wet and corroded in the ground.
Now for some treasure hunting locations for the modern hunter armed with
his metal detector. First, we will go to an old fort in Casco Bay,
Maine, namely, "Fort Gorges," we will call this location number one on
our list.