The Dark Secrets of this Now-Empty Island in Maine

The cold green waters of the Gulf of Maine lap against the shore of Malaga Island. Lobster traps are stacked on the beach, spruce trees tower high, set against the azure sky. There is a significant absence of life on this small, 40-acre island, save for vegetation and chattering red squirrels, which belies the fact that a small fishing community once resided here.

One can find serenity on Malaga, a striking contrast against its grim past. Unpopulated and overgrown by brush, this island hides a dark truth of Maine’s history, a tragic chain of events spurred by the racist “science” of eugenics married with political corruption.

Malaga Island is located at the mouth of the New Meadows River and now owned by the Maine Coast Heritage Trust. In a state where there are over 4,600 islands off its coast, it is easy to pass by without second glance. It was named for the Abenaki word for cedar and was inhabited in the mid-19th century. Sources disagree about who settled the island first, with Henry Griffin or Benjamin Darling cited as the...