Gazetteer of the State of Maine With Numerous Illustrations, by Geo. J. Varney

BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY B. B. RUSSELL, 57 CORNHILL. 1882. Public domain image from

158    GAZETTEER    OF    MAINE.

in town .s nine, valued, with other school property, at $4,000. The
valuation of estates, in 1870, was $395,993. In 1880, it was $367,693.
The population in 1870 was 984. In 1880 it was 1,030.

Clip© Elizabeth is the most seaward town of Cumberland
County. It constitutes a broad peninsula lying between Fore River,
Spurwink River and the sea. Scarborough is the adjoining town on
the south-west, Westbrook, Deering and Portland, on the north, and
around the southern and eastern parts flows the sea. It is separated
from Portland by Fore River, and Spurwink River cuts deeply into its
south-western side. Its north-eastern projection forms the southern
shore of Portland Harbor. The town, including Richmond Island, has
an area of 12,881 acres. The soil is various, being in different parts a
red, brown, and a black loam, with some sand and clav. Being near
so good a market as Portland, the buildings of the rural districts have a
neat and thrifty aspect. Great Pond and" Small Pond, in the southern

part, are the principal bodies of water. Richmond Island, lying a mile
from the southern shore, was the first locality occupied by Europeans
on this part of the coast. The first settler was Walter Bag-naff (called
“ Great Walt,”) who came here in 1628, occupying tbe island without a
title. His principal purpose appears to have been to drive a profitable
trade with the Indians, without much scruple about his methods. At
length his cupidity drew down upon him their vengeance and they
put an end to his life in October, 1631. Two months later, the
council of the Plymouth Company granted the Island and certain
other territory to Robert Trelawney and Moses Goodyear, merchants
of Plymouth, England, who soon made it the centre of their American
trade. The island was convenient to the fishing and coasting business,
and it soon became a place of much importance. There is a record
that, before 1648, large ships took in cargoes tor Europe there. In