Director, Editor
Story by Jessica Hester
Produced by Elvis Metcalf & Doug Baldinger
Production Assistant Lizzie Philip
Visitors to Peaks Island, on the ocean edge of Casco Bay in Portland, Maine, are often just looking for a vacation getaway. But there was a time when the coast was a border that needed defending. In the 1940s, authorities thought WWII would spill over to American shores, and so they built naval fortifications to help defend Casco Bay’s shipyards.
Battery Steele is a legacy of this need for defense. Though it's long since been abandoned, the military’s former presence on the island is still visible today if you know where to look.