The generous legacy of the Winslow family will mean homes for young families when a 22-plus acre landlocked parcel on Southport is developed and sold as individual lots. The land transferred from the Marjorie Winslow Trust to Southport United Methodist Church Nov. 25, 2024, capping more than a year of conversations about the acreage. 

Smith Climo, a trustee of the church which has a congregation of 15-20 people, told the Register he received a call from Lisa Clarke in 2023, after David Winslow's death. Clarke explained, "David and I talked about it and there is a real need to provide an opportunity for young families to live here and build a home." Clarke said she and David had talked about doing something with the land so after his death, she "kept the conversation alive with the executors of the trust."

The executors agreed the church could receive the land along with funds as part of the distribution from the trust. 

Recalling the moment he learned about the gift, Climo said Clarke told him, "Marjorie has left land and money to the Southport United Methodist Church. It hasn't been surveyed but I think it's about 18 acres."

Climo's next step was to ask fellow church members if they would accept the land. He said many meetings took place to discuss what to do with it but because the gift was seen as a "once in a lifetime opportunity," the church voted to develop lots and sell them below market cost. "We had it surveyed and decided to develop it into two-acre lots offered at a price to encourage young families."

Climo said the whole congregation voted and determined that selling the land to a developer "would have been easy but wouldn't impact people's lives. We wanted a place where people who work in the region can come and not have to drive from Alna to work at their jobs." 

Clarke said if the church not accepted the land, the land likely would have gone on the market and sold to any interested buyer. She was glad that, "they wanted to honor the Winslows' wishes to give back to the community. The family loved Southport and wanted to see it thrive."

The land has been surveyed and divided into 11 lots. Climo said nine are buildable and all two acres or better. Some have wetlands. There is no road yet, Climo said. "We looked at putting water in but it would cost well over $1 million to do that. Wells will have plenty of water." Unbuildable land may be turned into community space.

Next steps identified by Climo are to come before a meeting of the Southport planning board. After that, a road into the property would be created and electricity made available."We could potentially be selling lots in the spring," he said, adding, the working name for the area is "Winslow Woods."