Westport Names Wright Landing for Founding Father

Westport Island residents honored former select board member George Richardson Jr. and the late Ruth and John Nelson during a brief ceremony at the Wright Landing on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 30.

Richardson served on the select board from 1964-2022, including 25 years as chairman.

Wright Landing Committee Chair Richard DeVries unveiled a plaque mounted to a large rock at the town’s historic landing naming Richardson a founding father of the project. Richardson was honored for his leadership securing the site, shepherding the process of obtaining the land, the funding, and gaining residential support for the project.

According to a press release from Westport Island resident Gaye Wagner, DeVries also commended the late Ruth and John Nelson for their advocacy and work on the project. Ruth Nelson was credited for writing three grants that were integral to the purchase of the land and the construction of the pier and boat ramp.

John Nelson passed away in October 2014 and Ruth Nelson passed away in December 2019.

DeVries also thanked Art and Sandy Ballard. Art Ballard chaired the Wright Landing Committee during the landing’s development and Sandy Ballard paid for and planted the first plants on the site.

Now town-owned public waterfront property, Wright Landing is located on the site of the town’s former ferry landing. Until the causeway was built in 1950, the ferry transported people on and off the island for more than 100 years.

 

The landing now serves recreational and commercial boaters.

The property was owned by Adrien and Mary Wright for many years. The Wrights encouraged fishermen, wormers, and diggers to park on their property when heading out for a day on the Back River. Adrien Wright passed away in December 1998. Mary Wright continued to live on the landing until her death in February 2004. In her will, she left explicit instructions offering the town of Westport Island right of first refusal to purchase the property.

At the 2004 annual town meeting, residents voted to purchase the Wright property along with a house located on the site for $567,000. The house currently serves as the town’s history center. The town’s food pantry in located in the basement of the house.

After the town faced a legal battle with a couple residents who expressed concern with safety issues, the Wright Landing project was allowed to move forward and was dedicated on June 10, 2010.

Richardson grew up on Westport Island. Born in 1936, he attended the one-room North End Schoolhouse on the island. After graduating from Morse High School, he attended Massachusetts Radio and Telegraph School, Maine Maritime Academy and served in the U.S. Navy. In 1959 he married Marcia Kelley. The couple has five children.

Richardson was a fisherman, a trade he began at the age of 12, helping his father fish for sardines and herring at night. He later became a lobsterman and dragged on his own boat, retiring at age 69.

Responding to being named the founding father of Wright Landing, Richardson expressed his appreciation for the honor, and noted the project had been a team effort with many people involved.

Richardson told the group he had three top priorities when he served on the select board. One was to have a public boat landing within the town and the other two were to build a town office and a sand-and-salt shed. All have been accomplished, he said.