{"id":516,"slug":"swan-island-perkins-township-perkins-township-maine","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Swan Island is the unvoted — the 'no men' that's the '18 disincorporate, the 'offices empty' that's the town's legal death. The '95 souls' is the peaked — the '1860' that's the census' count, the 'ice harvested' that's the river's crop. The 'ferry stopped' is the cut — the '1936' that's the link's end, the 'exodus' that's the leaving's speed.","The 'Swango' is the first — the 'Island of Eagles' that's the Abenaki's name, the 'fortress stood' that's the chiefs' hold. The 'Perkins paid' is the named — the 'china merchant' that's the patron's trade, the 'incorporation bought' that's the gift's price. Swan Island is the wild — the 'wildlife area' that's the state's turn, the '20 cellars' that's the town's bones.","The file keeps Swan Island: the unvoted end, the ice crop, the stopped ferry, and the eagles' name.","Swan Island is the archive's Maine file — the town that ran out of voters."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["Swan Island is the archive's Maine file — where a town died when offices went unfilled.","An island keeps its silence — the file's suggestion being that Swan's hold is the emptied: the 'no voters' that's the legal death, the 'ferry gone' that's the link's cut, and the 'cellars left' that's the town's bones."]}],"name":"Swan Island (Perkins Township)","aliases":["Perkins","Steve Powell Wildlife Management Area"],"type":"GHOST_TOWN","type_label":"Ghost Town","cats":["GHOST_TOWN"],"groups":["ghost-towns"],"desc":"Former island settlement preserved within a state wildlife management area.","full_desc":"Swan Island (Perkins Township) is a ghost town in Perkins Township, Maine, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Former island settlement preserved within a state wildlife management area. The archive files it under ghost towns. The dossier holds 1 documented fact — the record is history-forward, no paranormal claims on file. The site is open to visitors.","address":null,"city":"Perkins Township","county":"Sagadahoc","state":"Maine","postal":null,"region":"Northeast","lat":43.93885,"lon":-69.77923,"coord_kind":"COUNTY","status":"HISTORIC_SITE","access":"PUBLIC","access_notes":"Water access only. Some historic buildings and areas require department permission and accompaniment. Distinct from offshore Swan's Island.","ownership":null,"website":"https://www.maine.gov/ifw/programs-resources/recreational-opportunities/swan-island/about.html","phone":null,"year_built":null,"year_opened":null,"year_closed":null,"year_demolished":null,"designation":"National Register of Historic Places","current_use":null,"research_notes":"Discovery/enrichment pass; geographic coordinates and current visitor conditions remain to be independently verified. Evidence confidence refers to attribution, not paranormal reality.","stage":"SOURCE_RESEARCH","quality":{"level":"MEDIUM","score":67.9,"dims":{"location_confidence":0.75,"identity_confidence":0.85,"historical_confidence":0.8,"source_quality":1,"paranormal_claim_provenance":null,"coordinate_confidence":0,"current_access_confidence":0.7,"freshness":0.65}},"claims":[],"history":[{"description":"The island supported a nineteenth-century agricultural settlement; five historic houses remain. MDIFW began protection in the 1940s. The town's documented rise and abandonment is the record the rest of the file stands on. This belongs to the verified spine of the entry, the layer everything else is measured against. 'Swan Island: About' documents the entry. Documented ground is what separates this file from pure legend — this is part of it.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":null,"date_end":null,"confidence":null,"source":{"name":"Swan Island: About","url":"https://www.maine.gov/ifw/programs-resources/recreational-opportunities/swan-island/about.html","publisher":"Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife","type":"GOVERNMENT","authority":1}}],"legends":[],"entities":[],"events":[],"investigations":[],"encounters":[],"media":[],"persons":[],"visitor":{"opening_hours":"Day use sunrise–sunset","admission_fee":"Free visiting and camping","reservation_requirement":"No reservations; campsites first come, first served; three-night limit","parking":"Mainland parking in Richmond","public_restroom":"Modern bathrooms at campground","last_verified_at":"2026-09-14T10:36:20+00:00","source":{"name":"Swan Island Rules and FAQ","url":"https://www.maine.gov/ifw/programs-resources/recreational-opportunities/swan-island/rules-faq.html","publisher":"Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife","type":"GOVERNMENT","authority":1}},"sources":[{"name":"Swan Island: About","url":"https://www.maine.gov/ifw/programs-resources/recreational-opportunities/swan-island/about.html","publisher":"Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife","type":"GOVERNMENT","authority":1},{"name":"Swan Island Rules and FAQ","url":"https://www.maine.gov/ifw/programs-resources/recreational-opportunities/swan-island/rules-faq.html","publisher":"Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife","type":"GOVERNMENT","authority":1}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":null,"counts":{"claims":0,"history":1,"legends":0,"entities":0,"sources":2}}