Town of Verona Island

Verona Island is a town in Hancock County, incorporated on February 18, 1861 from Wetmore Isle Plantation, and takes its name from that of an Italian city.

It was also known as Penobscot Island and Orphan Island, the latter because it was all that General Henry Knox had to bequeath to his orphaned grandchildren.

Once a shipbuilding community, it built Commodore Robert E. Peary's ship the Roosevelt for his expedition to the North Pole.

The Island lies in the Penobscot River between the main and the Eastern Channel, the latter being supplemented with the outlet of the Orland River. The Waldo-Hancock Suspension Bridge provides the link from the Town of Prospect as U.S. Route 1 and Maine Route 3 pass through the northern portion of the town, then to Bucksport.

From Maine: An Encyclopedia (www.themaineencyclopedia.com)