The History Center
The Friends worked alongside dedicated community partners to create the History Center at Westport Island’s historic Ferry, or Wright, Landing. For decades, the Town’s history collection was stored in a small room at the historic Town Hall. Sharing the common goal of having a dedicated space to preserve and expand the Town’s history collection, the Select Board offered the main floor of the town-owned “Wright House.” After a year of renovations by Friends and History and Wright Landing Committee members, volunteers moved the collection to the Wright House in September 2020.
FERRY LANDING HISTORY
From 1899 to 1950, today’s Wright Landing was the town’s Ferry Landing. “Ferries” — referred to by some as rafts —carried islanders, vehicles, and mail about 850 feet across the Back River narrows to and from Wiscasset. A steel cable between the two landings ran over stanchions at either end of the ferry allowing a ferryman to manually pull the ferry across the water. In later years, a motor boat guided the ferry. The opening of the north-end causeway in 1950 ended ferry service.
WRIGHT HOUSE HISTORY
In 2000, Mary Wright (1924–2004) gave the town a Right of First Refusal in her will on the old Ferry Landing. She and her husband Adrien had bought the land, their “dream spot on the river,” in the 1960’s. Adrien (1923–1998) was a town folk hero. During World War II, he served as a gunner on a B17 bomber that was shot down over Germany where he survived 1½ years in captivity. Mary and Adrien built and retired to their ferry landing home in 1968. in 2004, the town bought the property as a “working waterfront” for fishermen and a public boat launch and recreational space for residents. The Wright’s old house now houses the town’s food pantry on the lower level and the History Center on the main level.
TODAY’S HISTORY CENTER
The History Center is the town’s first dedicated space for history. It serves to:
• Store the town’s collection in a secure, climate-controlled space;
• Provide exhibit display space;
• Provide volunteer work space; and
• Provide public access to the holdings and genealogical records.
The creation of a public boat launch and the History Center have restored the landing’s prominence for townspeople. It is also now a site on our self-guided History Trail. The grounds are beautifully maintained by the Wright Landing and the Horticulture Committees.
