Also known as Great Chebeague (pronounced "sha-big") Island, today it is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States.

Early commerce on the island developed around fishing, farming, and the construction of "stone sloops," ships that carried quarried granite down the eastern seaboard for the building of breakwaters, lighthouses, and set navigational markers.

[9] By the late 19th century and throughout the early 20th century, tourists from Canada, Boston, and points south began to visit Maine in a phenomenon sometimes known as the "rusticators" movement, where residents of New England's industrial cities sought to get back to nature for a few days or weeks.

The strong sense of community is highlighted in its summer months, where children often participate in the many camps offered on the island.

In the acclaimed camp, students learn about small boat sailing while enjoying the great waters that Casco Bay offers.

In 1997, the people of Chebeague were a significant part of a movement that managed to overturn Nabisco's first attempt at discontinuing the "Crown Pilot Crackers" from its product line.

Due to its being such a tradition with the islanders as an accessory to their consumption of soup, an organized effort was created to bring the chowder cracker back.

It was successful, so much so that not only was the Pilot Cracker made again, but it was turned into a media event, with Nabisco donating $1,000 to the Chebeague Historical Society.

The island won independence from Cumberland after votes in the Maine Senate (31–3) and House of Representatives (131–1) on April 5, 2006.

Casco Bay Lines provides service on all mail boat and other "down-bay" trips that travel beyond Long Island.

Most residents have "island cars" that they use year-round; they take the abuse of rutted back roads with overgrowth that scratches the sides of vehicles, as well as the corrosive, briny Casco Bay air.

Children of year-round residents take a boat back and forth to the mainland every day from the Stone Pier to go to middle and high school.

Deer, red fox, a variety of non-venomous snakes, raccoons, grey squirrels, frogs and toads, gray and black back gulls, loons, and ducks are all creatures that can be seen on and about the island.

Harbor seals can often be spotted from the shores of Chebeague, swimming or sunning themselves on the rocks of nearby uninhabited islands or on depth-marker buoys.

Clamming is often shut down when the red tide—a harmful microscopic ocean organism that affects shellfish—"blooms" in the area.

People who eat clams that are affected by the red tide (even steamed ones) can become violently ill; the algae can be fatal.

This paralytic poisoning often causes death to humans, birds, larval and adult fish, and marine mammals.

For many years, mussels—which grow in clusters, attached by "beards" to rocks and seaweed, pier pilings, buoys, and just about any stable structure in the ocean—were largely ignored as inedible.

Mussels, on the other hand, are lying attached to rocks on the shore during low tide, and a bucketful can be collected in minutes.

Marketing demands have reduced the mussel population greatly, and now they are often "grown" by farmers on floating barges where they can be easily "picked" when ready.

Ocean floor geography in the general area can vary drastically, thus careful navigation must be practiced when boating, even in small vessels.

The rip tide can be several knots, and rowing against it is physically impossible: Extra care must be taken when venturing out in small watercraft.

Falling out of a boat into the water anytime between September and April can be dangerous, if not fatal, depending on the time of year.

Swimming is enjoyed usually in inlets and coves where the water temperature is slightly higher, and off the pier or docks.

When the sun goes down, temperatures can drop drastically and, even on the warmest summer days, nights are often very cool and can require long sleeves and pants and even a fire in the fireplace.

The Chebeague Island Boatyard provides a variety of services ranging from indoor heated storage and nightly mooring rentals to portable marine engine diagnostics and fabricating or refinishing woodwork.