Gray-shingled with an inviting porch, this little island’s tiny chapel looks like a summer home, its stained-glass windows the only sign that it is something more.
But look a little closer at the building, built in 1894, and the scars resulting from decades of pelting by the snow, wind and rain that come off Casco Bay can be seen. The roof needs work. A wall is bowing out. The paint is peeling.
Still, in a community with no stores, no discernible center and a population that for the most part exists only in summer, the church, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has long been a meeting place, the most vibrant location in a tranquil summer retreat. “It’s really the mainstay of the island,” said Karl Winslow, 75, who has summered here for most of his life.
These people are the lasting curse of Maine, the perpetual rich who own vitually all of the islands in Casco Bay. Indeed, they now own most of the shoreline of Maine, so there are many estates now that sell for over 5 million dollars. And they have driven the working waterfront into nonexistence.
I know these islands and people well. Well, these folks need SOMETHING to do with themselves so preserving the church is good. Busy hands are happy hands.
Larry makes a good point. People from away are buying up access to the water and pricing the locals out of the communities where they grew up and had hoped at one time that their children could own homes here, too. Those who still own the family home are being taxed off their lands.
Still, it’s a refreshing story about the people’s love for that chapel. I’ve never been to Cousins Island, myself. I know Kendall has a Maine/Bowdoin/St. Matthew’s connection that still means a lot to him.
Thanks for including it.
Pax Christi!
Chuck Bradshaw, Hulls Cove, Maine