In 1806, several men owned shares in Brigadier's Island, and David Sears bought out his partners in 1813. The island then passed through four generations of the Sears family, who owned much land in the area now known as Searsport. Farming continued on Sears Island for more than a century. Although the Sears family never lived there year-round, they built a summer home at the southern end in 1853, and it burned 40 years later. In 1905, the Bangor Investment Company, part of the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad, bought the island to develop a resort, but that plan never happened. Farming continued until 1934, when all buildings were removed. As the island returned to a more natural state, local people treated it as a public recreation area and even used it as a drop-off point for smuggling liquor during Prohibition. Its development potential remained a recurring issue: in 1985, the state bought 50 acres for a possible port site, the causeway was built and the jetty begun, but the project ended by 1996. In 1997, the state bought the rest of the island, and debate over possible uses continued. In 2006, Friends of Sears Island was formed to protect the island's natural and cultural resources, and in 2009, 601 acres were placed under conservation easement while the remaining 335 acres were kept for future transportation purposes. Today, Friends of Sears Island manages the island's conservation area.