PORTLAND HEAD LIGHT AREA
The history book tells us that many of the old sailing vessels came to
grief in this area. Portland Head Light is located on the government
reservation of Fort Williams and you definitely can not search here; but
the area outside of the Fort should receive your attention. If you
proceed in a southeasterly direction along the shoreline, going away
from the Fort there is no telling what you might find. The ships that
were wrecked in this area of the bay, carried all kinds of cargo; such
as silks, silverware, jewelry, tools, money, tea, coffee, guns, pottery,
glassware, etc., just to mention a few.
Many of these articles washed ashore from the wrecked ships. It is my
guess that there still remains, buried in the sand of the many inlets
and coves; relics of a bygone era.
One of the wrecked ships in this area was the Annie C. Maguire. She came
ashore in 1886 and went to pieces on Portland Head Light Reef.
One of the earlier shipwrecks was that of the "Bohemian." She came to
grief on Alden's Rock; located about three miles off the Cape Elizabeth
shore. The year was 1864. She had sailed from Liverpool, England; her
destination being Portland, Maine. Many of the Cape Elizabeth residents
still have articles in their possession that came from the "Bohemian".
(The Author has a silver plated spoon from this wrecked ship, that will
rest in the Cape Historical Society.)
The days that followed the disaster were busy ones for the people along
the shores of the mainland, as well as the islands of Casco Bay. They
were salvaging the bolts of silk cloth, along with many other items that
were washed ashore. The story goes; that the ladies of the area soon
were seen wearing new dresses made out of the cloth from the "Bohemian".