The Malaga Island Eviction of 1912: Background information when reading This Other Eden

The Malaga Island Eviction of 1912

This article relates to This Other Eden

Paul Harding's novel This Other Eden takes place on Apple Island, where a Christian missionary arrives and becomes a catalyst for the destruction of a flourishing community of vulnerable people who did not, and could not, fit into societal norms. Harding's novel is inspired by true events that took place in the early 20th century on Malaga Island, part of Phippsburg, Maine, about 20 miles northeast of Portland.

Information is sparse about the earliest inhabitants of the 42-acre island. It is believed that an African man from the West Indies named Benjamin Darling purchased nearby Horse Island in the late 18th century, and that his descendants were later scattered across this island and Malaga. The name is thought to have originated from the ship Benjamin Darling traveled to the New World on — a brig carrying timber from Malaga, Spain. Historians think that Darling might have saved the life of the ship's captain during a storm and been given the money to purchase Horse Island as thanks.

By 1900, there were 40 people living on Malaga Island, including descendants of Benjamin Darling and others who had made their way there from elsewhere in Maine. It was a fishing community that included Black, white and mixed-race residents; according to Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT), it was "one of the last refuges for poor fishing families as island and coastal real estate elsewhere around Casco Bay was sold off." It was also a place where mixed-race couples and their children could live relatively peacefully at a time when interracial marriage was illegal.

The eugenics movement and gentrification combined to shatter that peaceful existence. A 1902 article in the newspaper Bath Enterprise declared of Malaga, "No worse heathenism we imagine could be found in far off heathen countries than can be found on this godless island," while the Casco Bay Breeze described it as "the home of southern negro blood ... [an] incongruous scene on a spot of natural beauty." In addition to attracting virulent racism, the ramshackle homes on the island could be seen from the mainland, and there was concern that the sight might repel tourists.

In 1911, Maine governor Frederick Plaisted toured Malaga Island, and three weeks later, its residents were given an eviction notice. Several were remanded to the Home for the Feeble-Minded in New Gloucester, which is now Pineland. Many residents of the "Home" were forcibly sterilized. Some Malaga Island residents received a monetary settlement in exchange for vacating before the July 1912 eviction deadline. After the deadline passed, the State destroyed the homes and other structures on Malaga, and even exhumed and relocated the remains of the deceased residents buried there.

Malaga Island has not been inhabited since the eviction. In 2001, it was purchased by Maine Coast Heritage Trust for preservation. Local fishermen are permitted to use the island to store equipment, and it's a popular day-trip destination for Maine residents. MCHT's website offers resources and information about visiting Malaga Island, including directions and a map of the preserve. The Maine State Museum featured a special exhibit of artifacts from the island in 2012. You can view the exhibit in the YouTube video below, along with a speech delivered by Laura Harrison, descendant of a Malaga resident.

The Eason family of Malaga Island, courtesy of Maine Coast Heritage Trust

Filed under Places, Cultures & Identities

This "beyond the book article" relates to This Other Eden. It originally ran in April 2023 and has been updated for the January 2023 edition. Go to magazine.

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