At 8 a.m. on a cool and foggy May morning, a small but dedicated group of Boothbay Region High School (BRHS) students along with their teachers met up with Boothbay Region Land Trust (BRLT) staff at Pier 8 to board the Miss Boothbay. The class was bound for Damariscove Island, one of BRLT’s most iconic island preserves and a notable historic landmark to boot. The group was visiting the island as part of their “Historical Inquiry & Field Research” class, co-taught by Nick Scott and Chip Schwehm. Scott describes the course as an experiential learning class with a focus on local history. Students regularly get out of the classroom to explore local landmarks and learn through hands-on visits and independent projects focused on the region’s past. Prior field trips included visits to Fort Edgecomb, Maine Maritime Museum, as well as other land trust preserves like Ovens Mouth. For their final project, students will research an independently selected topic based on their studies and create a museum-quality display piece with the support of Schwehm, who works with students in the shop to design and execute their creations.

On the day of the Damariscove field trip, one student was modeling her museum piece — a hand-made satchel designed and produced using methods and materials similar to those used by Civil War soldiers whose satchels contained personal effects such as family photographs. The trip to Damariscove Island was the culmination of the student field visits and was a full day trip highlighting early colonial history on the island through the present day.

The visit was several years in the making. Prior to the COVID pandemic, BRLT and the teachers were in conversation about coordinating a trip to the island, however, plans had to be postponed for a few years due to the pandemic. In the meantime, BRLT was able to engage Maine Island Trails Association (MITA) in the planned trip. MITA has been a longtime partner with BRLT, helping to support trail maintenance on the land trust’s island preserves. They had approached BRLT to discuss ways to increase public visitation on Maine islands and were immediately interested in partnering to get the student group out to Damariscove Island. MITA provided financial support to secure the Miss Boothbay for the journey.

On the island, BRLT Environmental Educator Tracey Hall led the group on a tour starting at the historic stone pier and meandering along the trail and through history. She was accompanied by BRLT Executive Director Nick Ullo. For seven years the two spent summers on Damariscove Island as caretakers. They shared the island’s connection with colonial settlement, dating back to the early 1600s as one of the first permanent European settlements in Maine. They followed the history from that moment to the present-day utilizing evidence still visible on the island to bring the history to life. Hall and Ullo interspersed their presentation with the occasional legend and ghost story (what Maine island doesn’t have at least one?). Students learned about how colonial fishermen on Damariscove Island provided food for Plymouth colony during the spring of 1622 when the colony was facing starvation, and also how Damariscove settlers denied Plymouth assistance two years later when the colony again sought food (as a student noted, they’ve got to learn to fish!). Students enjoyed exploring the old foundations left behind from past endeavors that included everything from ice harvesting, to farming, tourism, fishing, and quarrying. They heard stories of the hardships of life on the island, like when a farmer’s prize bull was struck by lightening or how dairy farmers on the island rowed milk out to the residents of Squirrel Island every morning.

“Damariscove is a perfect place for students to learn about many of the major threads of history in our region and also in our state. Because the island retains so many remnants of this history, from old foundations to the stone pier that is still used today by lobstermen to store traps, the students have a real opportunity to visualize and imagine what life might have been like in early colonial history, as well as to think about how much has changed even over the past hundred years,” explains Hall. “Many students who grow up on the Boothbay peninsula have never been out to Damariscove Island before. BRLT hopes that we can build on this collaboration to get more local students to the island in future years.”

BRHS makes this elective course available to students every other year. Damariscove Island is open to the general public and accessible by boat only. During the months of June through August, caretakers are on the island to provide general information for the public. BRLT also provides opportunities for the public to join educational programs to the island, and is planning a trip for September. Interested members of the public should visit BRLT’s website at bbrlt.org and look at the events calendar for information on purchasing tickets as the date approaches.