





Battery Steele, located on Peaks Island, was built in 1942 during World War II to protect Casco Bay and Portland Harbor. Named after Harry L. Steele, a World War I Coast Artillery officer, it was the largest gun battery ever constructed in Maine and the entire United States. Armed with two 16-inch guns capable of launching 2,240-pound shells nearly 30 miles, the battery was triangulated by observation towers on Peaks Island, Jewell Island, Cushing Island, and Bailey Island to defend against enemy ships and submarines. After decades of being unused, the Peaks Island Land Preserve, a local preservation group, purchased the site in 1995 to safeguard it as a public space. Its historical importance was officially recognized when it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 20, 2005.