History
It was included in the 1750 grant made by the Massachusetts General Court to Captain Moses Pearson, Captain Humphrey Hobbs and their respective companies of soldiers for services during the French and Indian Wars. Pearsontown Plantation was first settled in the 1750s, then incorporated as the town of Standish on November 30, 1785. Frye Island, named for Captain Joseph Frye, seceded from Standish to become a separate town on July 1, 1998.A popular legend on Frye Island tells of Captain Frye and his escape from a tribe of Native Americans in Portland. While being chased, Captain Frye came upon a large rock, now known as Frye's Leap, and had no way of going around it. Captain Frye made the decision to jump and swam across the channel to Frye Island. Today, many people go to Frye's Leap to reenact the famous jump, though this is extremely dangerous and illegal.
Frye Island is composed of 1,000 mostly wooded acres interlaced with 22 miles of dirt roads. The speed limit is 20 mph. Some homes are waterfront houses, and have Sebago Lake in front of their houses. On the island, there are two marinas, various athletic and recreational facilities, several public beaches, a convenience store, an ice cream stand, a restaurant with a bar, known as the Frye's Leap Cafe, and a golf club with a lounge that is open to the public.
The island is accessed by twin 65 foot single-deck car ferries which are owned and operated by the town. They run every half hour from early in the morning until late in the evening during July and August, reduced somewhat in off-season. The trip takes about 5 minutes. Walk-on passengers are permitted, but there is no passenger parking at the ferry landings.
Geography
Frye Island is approxmimately 1.5 miles wide (at the widest point) and 2.5 miles long. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²), of which, 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.7 km²) of it is water. The total area is 16.88% water. Frye Island is situated in Sebago Lake.Demographics
As of the census of 2000, the population of Frye Island was 0: any residents in the town are only seasonal residents.References
Further reading
External links
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Last updated on Friday June 27, 2008 at 19:43:02 PDT (GMT -0700)
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