Diamond Cove, on the northern end of Great Diamond Island, is renowned for its abundant deposits of quartz. A traditional land of the Wabanaki, the Casco Bay island was known to early colonizers of Portland as "Hogg Island," likely due to its suitability for swine farming. With the particular insistence of the Diamond Island Association, which established a vacation community on the island in the 1880s, the island and its smaller neighbor were rechristened the "Diamond Islands."

This image was included in an album owned by Portland civil engineer William S. Edwards. Written beneath the image is "Diamond Cove. August 20, 1887."