The S.S. Cadet steamship, owned by the Casco Bay Steamboat Company, initially made regular runs from Franklin and State Streets Wharves, Portland, to Peaks Island, Cushing’s Island, and Cape Cottage, Cape Elizabeth. The Cadet, built in 1879, listed its tonnage at 48.76

An 1887 advertisement in the Portland Daily Press billed The Cadet’s route as “the Greenwood Gardens line,” in reference to the eponymous pleasure park, established by James Brackett, on Peaks Island.

The Casco Bay Steamboat Company was the first to offer regular steamboat ferry service between Portland and the Casco Bay Islands, in 1878. In 1907, the Company merged with the competing Harpswell Line.

This image was included in an album compiled by William S. Edwards. Beneath is inscribed “Island Steamer Cadet. Sept 5, 1887.”