House Island is a

private island A private island is a disconnected body of land wholly owned by a private citizen or corporation. Although this exclusivity gives the owner substantial control over the property, private islands remain under the jurisdiction of national and som ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

Harbor in

Casco Bay Casco Bay is an bay, open bay of the Gulf of Maine on the coast of Maine in the United States. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's chart for Casco Bay marks the dividing line between the bay and the Gulf of Maine as running from ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, United States. It is part of the City of

. The island is accessible only by boat. Public access is prohibited except for an on-request tour sanctioned by the island's owners. House Island includes three buildings on the east side and Fort Scammell on the west side. The buildings are used as vacation rentals and other summer residences. The island's name derives from the site of an early European house, believed that built by Capt.

Christopher Levett Captain Christopher Levett (15 April 1586 – 1630) was an English writer, explorer and naval captain, born at York, England. He explored the coast of New England and secured a grant from the king to settle present-day Portland, Maine, the firs ...

, an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

explorer of the region. The island sold for $5.35m in 2022.

Fort Scammell

Henry A. S. Dearborn, an officer of the

Massachusetts Militia This is a list of militia units of the Colony and later Commonwealth of Massachusetts. * Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts (1638) * Cogswell's Regiment of Militia (April 19, 1775) * Woodbridge's Regiment of Militia (April ...

and a future general, built Fort Scammell on the island in 1808 as part of the national second system of fortifications. It was named after

Alexander Scammell Alexander Scammell (March 22, 1747 – October 6, 1781) was an American military officer and attorney who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was wounded on September 30, 1781, near Yorktown and subsequently di ...

, Adjutant-General of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, who was killed in action during the

Battle of Yorktown The siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown and the surrender at Yorktown, was the final battle of the American Revolutionary War. It was won decisively by the Continental Army, led by George Washington, with support from the Mar ...

. (The middle names of the fort's builder were also chosen after Scammell, a friend of the builder's father,

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

Henry Dearborn Henry Dearborn (February 23, 1751 – June 6, 1829) was an American military officer and politician. In the Revolutionary War, he served under Benedict Arnold in his expedition to Quebec, of which his journal provides an important record ...

.) The fort was designed for harbor defense, with cannon batteries designed to protect the main shipping channel into Portland harbor, along with

Fort Preble Fort Preble was a military fort in South Portland, Maine, United States, built in 1808 and progressively added to through 1906. The fort was active during all major wars from the War of 1812 through World War II. The fort was deactivated in 1950. ...

. The spelling of the fort's name varies among references. The fort was made of stone, brick, and earth, and initially mounted fifteen guns and a 10-inch

mortar Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...

. The Secretary of War's report on fortifications for 1811 describes Fort Scammell as "a circular battery of masonry with circular flanks, mounting fifteen heavy guns, is covered in the rear with a wooden

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

, mounting six guns...". Typical weapons of the period were 24-pounder or 32-pounder

smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. Some examples of smoothbore weapons are muskets, blunderbusses, and flintlock pistols. ...

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

. In the 1840s–1850s, as part of the national third system of fortifications, Fort Scammell was modernized by extending its walls to enclose a larger area.Fort Scammel article at FortWiki.com
/ref> Thomas Lincoln Casey, an

Army engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...

officer known for his work on the

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States, victorious commander-in-chief of the Continen ...

, completely rebuilt the fort beginning in 1862 during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. As rebuilt to the new Third System design Fort Scammell was unique in the US, with the design centered on two three-tier stone-and-brick bastions connected by earth walls rather than stone curtain walls. A third bastion was never completed. To allow timely completion, the remaining bastions had a tier or two each removed from the design. As completed, the west bastion had a single tier of

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" ...

s and the east bastion had two tiers. In the 1870s, additional earthworks to accommodate 10-inch and 15-inch

Rodman gun Drawing comparing Model 1844 8-inch columbiad and Model 1861 10-inch "Rodman" columbiad. The powder chamber on the older columbiad is highlighted by the red box. The Rodman gun is any of a series of American Civil War–era columbiads designed by ...

s were constructed, but only some of these were completed due to a national freeze on fort construction in the late 1870s. Fort Scammell was not re-armed in the Spanish–American War of 1898, and was listed as disarmed in a 1903 report. Two emplacements for anti-aircraft guns were added in 1917, probably for the

3-inch gun M1917 The 3-inch M1917 anti-aircraft gun was an American anti-aircraft gun which served from 1915 to 1917 in the U.S. Military. History The 3-inch M1917 anti-aircraft gun was the first United States Army dedicated anti-aircraft gun, being in serv ...

. Of all the forts in Casco Bay, Fort Scammell was the only fort to fire a shot and be fired upon in battle, in early August 1813.

Immigration Quarantine Station

The island was later the site of an immigration

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...

station from 1907 to 1937, and was considered the '

Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...

of the North'. The quarantine station was busiest in the early 1920s, after the adoption of the

Emergency Quota Act __NOTOC__ The Emergency Quota Act, also known as the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921, the Immigration Restriction Act of 1921, the Per Centum Law, and the Johnson Quota Act (ch. 8, of May 19, 1921), was formulated mainly in response to the lar ...

, which restricted the number of immigrants who could enter the country. In November 1923, the ships ''President Polk'' and ''George Washington'' were diverted from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to Portland, and 218 immigrants from those ships were quarantined at the station. Many of the immigrants were

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Jewish immigrant women from Portland built a

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

kitchen on the island. The island was considered "ideal" by immigration officials. A

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

station was located at the docks in Portland, allowing easy rail access for immigrants arriving in Portland. Additionally, William Husband, Commissioner General of United States Immigration, said the whole island was secure and "The whole of House Island was available in that case, instead of those detained being obliged to go out under guard with only few patches of green grass upon which they might set foot, as at some other places." The 1920 brick detention barracks have been demolished, but the original 1907 buildings remain, including the doctor's house, the detention barracks, and the quarantine hospital.

References

# ''Documentary History of the State of Maine, Containing the Farnham Papers'', Mary Frances Farnham, Maine Historical Society, 1901 # ''Maine's Casco Bay Islands: A Guide'', Nance Trueworthy, David A. Tyler, Down East Books, 2007 # "3000 Immigrants Due at Portland for November Quota," '' The Daily Kennebec Journal'', October 30, 1923 # "25 Years Ago Today," ''

Portland Press Herald The ''Portland Press Herald'' (abbreviated as ''PPH''; Sunday edition ''Maine Sunday Telegram'') is a daily newspaper based in South Portland, Maine, with a statewide readership. The ''Press Herald'' mainly serves southern Maine and is focused ...

'', November 5, 1948 # "Immigration Head Loud in Praise of Pier at Portland," ''The Daily Kennebec Journal'', November 28, 1923 # ibid, ''The Daily Kennebec Journal'', November 28, 1923

Citations

Bibliography

* Smith, Joshua M. ''Making Maine: Statehood and the War of 1812'' Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 2022. * *

External links