Peaks Island is only 740 acres, yet has 850 residents that reside year-round there. It is the most populated island in the Portland Bay. Their only access to it is by ferry. This island is considered one of Portland's communities. John Ford (President) lived here. It was like Coney Island in 1915, which a big ferris wheel and other carnival-type rides. Back then there were 17 hotels on the island. A big fire many years ago burned all but one down. In the 1960's they held an auction for house lots. Everyone interested each put $1,000 in the hat, then they drew out names to auction one-acre lots, all for $1,000 each. Originally, the island was used for farming. At one point, they were over-run with deer so they culled out 170 deer in one year. Since then, they cull the deer's overpopulation and give the venison to soup kitchens in Portland.

I found their architecture diverse but beautiful and it seemed like every one was trying to out-do their neighbor's landscaping. Overall, it was very interesting to see how much the topography changed around the island (some undeveloped forested areas, a beaver/marsh area, the rugged coastal areas, inland streets, etc. They have their own power plant, school (K thru 5th grade), (1) gas PUMP, 1 ATM, 1 grocery store (that says "if we don't have it, you don't need it"), a handful of restaurants and Police/Fire. (While we were there gas was $3.19/gal yet in TX before we left on vacation ours was $1.96/gal.)