A video captured the poignant moment when the forceful winter storm surge claimed the last of the cherished historic shacks, a local attraction cherished for over a century and a picturesque backdrop for paintings and photos, sending them into Casco Bay.
Cherished
High waves ripped down fishing shacks that had stood in South Portland, Maine, for more than 100 years and had recently been restored.
Oh, no. They’re both going. Oh, no.
High waves ripped down fishing shacks that had stood in South Portland, Maine, for more than 100 years and had recently been restored.CreditCredit…Susan Young/The Bangor Daily News, via Associated Press
Christine Hauser
By Christine Hauser
Jan. 15, 2024
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The fishing shacks that once adorned the rocks at Willard Beach in South Portland were an integral part of Maureen Connolly’s childhood, which she described on Monday as “quintessential Maine.”
The shacks, adorned with lobster buoys, served as a captivating backdrop for photographers and painters captivated by the rugged coastline, sailboats drifting by, and dinghies bobbing in the water.
These shacks, with a history spanning at least 150 years, are now no more. On Saturday, the last remnants of these shacks were swept into Casco Bay by the powerful surges of wind and water from a formidable East Coast storm.
Ms. Connolly, now 61 and residing in North Carolina, reminisced about riding her bike to the beach, enjoying views of distant islands and tankers at sea. She would explore the shacks, looking for crabs or dipping her toes in the water during low tide.
“We took pictures there. You sat on the steps of the fishing shacks or took walks with friends,” she said in an interview on Monday. “Pack a brown bag. That was the walk you took. It’s what we did.”
But those days are gone. On Saturday, the water level in Portland Harbor set a record of 14.57 feet, as captured in a video recorded by Michelle Erskine, showing the last two shacks succumbing to the water.
“Oh no, they’re both going,” she could be heard saying. “Oh no.”
“It was like history disappearing before your eyes,” said Kathryn DiPhilippo, the executive director of the South Portland Historical Society.
But on Sunday, South Portland residents were unwilling to let go. Mayor Misha Pride took a walk along the cold beach, estimating about 50 people were present. Some salvaged remnants of wood, metal, or other fragments. A woman erected a small memorial for the shacks. Online, others shared photographs of the shacks in the background of family gatherings.
“They meant so much to so many people — milestones, weddings, people playing by the ocean in their youth, school field trips,” Mr. Pride said in an interview. Not much remains, he added. “The only impression they are leaving for people is a mental impression. There is very little evidence they were there.”
The fishing shacks at Fishermen’s Point, a rocky ledge at the southern end of the beach, represented the maritime history of the community, lying about 60 miles south of the capital of Augusta.
In the 1870s and 1880s, Willard Beach and Simonton Cove thrived as a base for about a dozen schooners. Wooden shacks were built to store nets and fishing gear, Ms. DiPhilippo said. Over the years, their numbers dwindled as they were lost to storms.
After the blizzard of 1978, which marked the previous water level record of 14.17 feet, only two shacks remained. They were destroyed on Saturday.
“These last two shacks have been the ones that have stubbornly held on, and which our community treasured and cared for,” Ms. DiPhilippo said. “Videos showing the shacks washing away have been heartbreaking to watch.”
In 2022, after years of progressively more powerful storms, the historical society reached out to architects who measured the two shacks and drew up plans in case they were ever destroyed. The historical society is planning to raise funds in a bid to rebuild them.
After his walk on the beach, Mr. Pride said, his 10-year-old daughter, Lucy, asked him how the beloved shanties that had survived for so long could finally be gone. Why now?
“Wind was bad,” he told her. “And the ocean rose.
