Battery Steele, Peaks Island
Dang Peaks Island hoodlums!
Rob and Ging going into a dark tunnel.
Emily going into a dark tunnel.
Rob in a narrow side hall.
Freaky!
Graffiti everywhere.
Didn’t know Phil was there til my flash went off.
Back side of the bunker area.
We climbed up a tiny wooded trail to the topside of the bunker where we found this air vent.
Dark now. Standing on the top of the bunker.
During World War II, a large military defense installation was built on Peaks Island. There are bunkers and batteries and observation towers and more, I’m sure. Phil told me that there were observation areas out in the water, looking for submarines and then guns on the island that would shoot. Or that was the plan. When they tested the guns windows all the way on the opposite side of the island shattered. He said it was not used after that. Some of the ruins are privately owned, and some are just there and you can go in. Maybe those are privately owned, but the owners don’t care? I’m not sure.
We went to the Battery Steele area. It is in this overgrown woods and almost all the way covered except for the entry ways. There are long tunnels with rooms and halls going off this way and that. You couldn’t see a thing in there. You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, which was scary. Scarier was the fact that there were some small votives lit in the tunnel. The kind that don’t burn long, so someone had been in there just before us. Even scarier was when Ging and I were stumbling along in the dark and Billy and Dallas jumped out of somewhere and started yelling at us. Ging and I just started screaming. So spooky. Rob had two tiny flashlights, but most of us were just wandering around in the dark trying use our cell phones or cameras to see. It was creepy that we couldn’t see anything but when I’d light up a wall with my flash it would be covered with graffiti or we’d see one of our friends walking that we didn’t even know was there. Everything was all strobe-y, which added to the scary factor.
Rachelle,
I am reading this and now really want to visit Maine and Peak’s Island…cant’ wait to see Wedding Photos…this is like your 10th one this Summer! Looks like you had a great trip!
JUL
if you get the chance you should visit. it was a great time. wedding photos coming soon.. i’ve been in wisconsin and now we have house guests at home for the holiday weekend.. and then i start work. (eek!)
Rachelle,
These photos are great! The bunker ones are awesome especially. Very well composed.
I look forward to seeing more!
Emily
SOooooo creepy, that tunnel is!
Hey. Some cool photos of the interiors..I was looking at some forts of east coast for possible road trip to ME, as I am in Boston.
How do you get out there? I googled it and the map shows no roads out to it. Do you have to kayak to it or is there a ferry?
Yes, to get to Peaks Island you have to take a ferry from Portland, Maine …. although our friend also kayaks from the mainland out to the island too!
Yes, Back in the 80′s my friends and I visited there. The watch towers, concrete towers that overlooked the island and to the sea were amazing. The door to the towers were welded shut to prevent entrance however there was a small window opposite of the door. It took some doing just to squeeze into the small window of the tower, once inside, there was the ground floor with a concrete stairway going up to the next floor. After that, if you didn’t use the rope tied there you won’t be able to get to the top floor because the rung ladder that was in the wall was gone. Once on the top, the view was incredible. When we went back in the late 80′s the towers were converted to radio towers for a radio station and no one could get back inside, shame really. Other places were converted to houses. Like the boiler room like building. This building housed a large doorway, big enough for a large jeep to fit, inside were two smaller rooms to the left and right of the center room. The one on the left had many pipes coming out of the floor. One would guess this was for heating and cooling of Battery Steele just a few yards away. The room on the right had a hatch that lead up to the roof area. On the roof was nothing but just a flat concrete area and some venting pipes coming out. In the late 80′s, a person built a house ontop of the boiler room. Contact me if you would like to hear more of our adventures.
Cheers
Robert T.