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Chebeague Island beach October 21 2016Photo: Gkuriger · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Chebeague Island

Chebeague Island’s post office opened in 1868, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: maps from 1893 on.

1868first post office
2on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Chebeague Island began

When was Chebeague Island founded?

1868

The Chebeague Island post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 396158 years
Founding year: the first Chebeague Island post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Chebeague Island’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Chebeague Island are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18934 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1970. Watch Chebeague Island change.Old housesHalf of Chebeague Island’s homes were built before 1938.Lost villages5 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chebeague Island’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chebeague Island’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Chebeague Island on the map, 1893 to 1970

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Chebeague Island. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Chebeague Island on the 1893 USGS mapChebeague Island on the 1944 USGS mapChebeague Island on the 1956 USGS mapChebeague Island on the 1970 USGS map1893Casco Bay sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Chebeague Island.

The story

How Chebeague Island came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chebeague Island.

Read it all →

The name "Chebeague" evolved from Chebiscodego, the name used by members of the Wabanaki Confederacy, a First Nations and Native American confederation of five principal nations: the Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Abenaki, and Penobscot. Historians have cited one possible definition of the word Chebeague as "island of many springs." Other sources state that Chebeague comes from the Abenaki words T’Cabie or Chebidisco, meaning cold spring, or Jabeque or Gaboag, meaning separated, which recognizes the connectedness of Great Chebeague and Little Chebeague islands. Great Chebeague Island was also known for stretches as Indian Isle, Merry's Island and Recompense Island.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Chebeague Island, 1868 to 1893

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Chebeague Island post office opens
  3. 1871BuiltHalfway Rock Light Station is built
  4. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the National Register

2 historic places in Chebeague Island

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Halfway Rock Light Station
Halfway Rock Light Station, built 1871Great Chebeague Golf Club
DistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Light Station1
Halfway Rock Light StationLight Station · Built 1871
All 2 listings
Great Chebeague Golf ClubDistrict · listed 2015

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Old corners

Chebeague Island’s post office has been open since 1868.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Central LandingChandler Cove LandingJenks LandingSunset LandingWestern Landing

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Yarmouth11 historic placesAPortland98 historic placesA+Harpswell18 historic placesAFreeport5 historic placesA−Cumberland2 historic placesB

Questions about Chebeague Island’s history

What year was Chebeague Island founded?

The Chebeague Island post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Chebeague Island?

Two places: the Halfway Rock Light Station (listed 1988) and the Great Chebeague Golf Club (2015).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.