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{{Short description|Privately owned island in Casco Bay, Maine}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2008}}
[[File:Cushing Island Portland Harbor Alfred Thompson Bricher.jpeg|thumb|right|300px|''Cushing Island, Portland Harbor'', [[Alfred Thompson Bricher]], ca. 1870]]
[[File:Portland casco bay 08.07.2012 17-49-41.jpg|thumb|Cushing Island opposite the Portland Head Lighthouse.]]
'''Cushing Island''', or '''Cushing's Island''', is a privately owned island in [[Casco Bay]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Maine]]. Part of the city of [[Portland, Maine|Portland]], roughly 45 families live there seasonally.
== History ==
In 1623-24 English explorer [[Christopher Levett]] built a blockhouse on the island, part of {{convert|6000|acre|km2}} granted him by the English King. Levett left behind a group of settlers to carry on after he returned to England. But the naval captain and adventurer never returned, and the fate of the men is unknown. After Levett's occupation the island was known as Andrews Island. Levett's early settlement earned him the sobriquet "the pioneer colonist in Casco Bay" from eminent Maine historian James Phinney Baxter.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?
After a host of owners, in September 1734, Nathaniel Jones conveyed the island to Joshua Bangs. The island was then known as 'Bangs Island'. The name 'Bangs Island' will be found on maps from the period. In the late 1750s Ezekiel Cushing obtained the island from Bangs. In 1760, Bangs regained the island. The island was later conveyed to Jedediah Preble, Joshua Bangs' son-in-law after Bangs' death. Simeon Skillings, a relation of Preble's later lived on the island and purchased small parts of the land. [[Lemuel Cushing]], a fourth cousin of Ezekiel Cushing purchased most of the island in 1859. Cushing then consolidated the holdings of the Preble's and the Skilling's, becoming the sole owner of the island.<ref>Sargent, William M. "An Historical Sketch, Guide Book, and Prospectus of Cushing's Island" (1886)</ref> Born in Quebec, Canada, to Massachusetts emigrants, Lemuel Cushing planned to turn the island into a summer resort and built the Ottawa House hotel.<ref>*{{cite encyclopedia
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== Notable places ==
The island is inhabited seasonally. A caretaker lives on the island year round.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bucklin|first=Kate|date=2010-08-17|title=Wanted: Caretaker for Cushing Island, Maine|url=https://www.pressherald.com/2010/08/17/wanted-caretaker-for-cushing-island-maine/|access-date=2021-12-05|website=Press Herald}}</ref> Some of the private homes can be rented. Little Beach faces Portland Harbor. Big Beach is located on the southern end of the island.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Martell|first=Nevin|date=2015-08-20|title=
Ferry service is provided by the St Croix, which departs from Long Wharf in Portland and lands at the summer dock, also known as Civilian Dock. Access to the island is for private/owners use only. Water taxi service is available from Portland. Many of the islanders also own boats, with berthing spaces at Civilian and Government docks.
Much of the island is a nature preserve owned by the Cushings Island Conservation and protected from development. This area is largely forested with well-maintained walking trails and abandoned military fortifications from when it was the US Army’s Fort Levitt.<ref>The Fort at Cushings Island, Peter Murray, {{ISBN|978-1098326500}}</ref>
==See also==
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{{Casco Bay}}
{{Maine Islands}}
{{Authority control}}
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