African+Americans+-+Malaga+Island+(Casco+Bay)

Malaga Island is located at the mouth of the New Meadows river in Casco Bay, Maine (near Phippsburg). Malaga is branded with a horrid and shameful past. The island was settled by Benjamin Darling, a freed slave from the West Indies. In the late 1800's the island was considered a normal fishing island that prospered purely of of sea products, but was considered an 'eyesore' to the rest of Maine. It was looked down upon because the island was interracial and many black men were marrying white women (and also the opposite). The people of the neighboring town of Phippsburg were starting to get angry, because it was causing a decrease in tourism and soon got way out of control. This made a lot of bad things to happen for example, the white men started coming over and burning the black men's homes. Once a new governor was elected to Maine, Frederick Plaisted, he was astounded by all the new tourists seeking Maine's beautiful coast. Captain George W. Lane believed that this interracial island was perfectly fine, and disagreed with the governor of Maine and his decision to evict the island. There is a story written based on Malaga, it is called //Lizzy Bright and the Buckminster Boy//. This story is about two young's kids who hang out, but then are told they are not allowed. They are told that by the people in Phippsburg, because it is a little black girl from Malaga who the white boy from Phippsburg is playing with. They both don't think this is right, so they are going to do something about it. They take this little girls house away from her and she has nothing left, because her grandfather had just passed away. They take her to a mental institution where it is like a jail, and when the boy releases she is here he is devastated. He goes to see her, when he finally gets there he finds out she died. He just released that his only friend had died, and it wasn't because she was sick or old it was from the bad conditions and just being segregated against. The press had called these normal mainers "eyesores" and "negro blood that was not wanted". That showed how racism was apart of the North just as much as it was apart of the South, they were just more discreet about it.
 * History Of Malaga Island:**



The Maine School for the Feeble-Minded's name changed a couple of times, until it kept its most recent name know as Pine land Center, which is still located in Pownal, Maine. Malaga Island still has no population and is used by fisherman where they store lobster traps.
 * Current Events:**

__PODCAST:__ [|http://www.mainepublicradio.org/maineexperience/malagahigh.html[[http://www.mainepublicradio.org/maineexperience/malagahigh.html]|]]Captain