Cundys Harbor

A Summer Day at Holbrook

Cundys Harbor is a village within the town of Harpswell, in the area known as East Harpswell. It is located in the southeastern portion of this sprawling coastal town, on Sebascodegan Island. In 1985 the Maine Historic Preservation Commission described it thus: “Cundy’s Harbor is a small fishing village on a narrow peninsula of hilly…

Port Clyde

Port Clyde (2005)

Port Clyde is a village in St. George at the southern tip of its long peninsular. Port Clyde has long been an attraction to artists, including N. C. Wyeth, and tourists, who can take the ferry to Monhegan Island, visible in the distance. It is a base for lobster fishing and fin fishing. The village…

Tremont

Bass Harbor Light with the Gott Islands across the Water (2003)

Tremont’s Bass Harbor is the terminal for the Swan’s Island ferry and the Frenchboro ferry. See photos. Located on Mount Desert Island, it also hosts a much photographed lighthouse on its rocky shore and two nature preserves. Tremont’s cove-rich shoreline abuts Blue Hill Bay, which includes the town’s Tinker and Hardwood islands, among others.

Island Falls

William Sewall became a wildlife guide and companion to Theodore Roosevelt in the 1870′s. The town has frontage on almost half of Pleasant Lake. See photos. The nearby Walker Settlement hosts a golf course and residential development near the lake. Several large homes recall the heady days when potato was king in the County. One of those was that of Governor Carl E. Milliken. Island Falls has had industry in the form of lumber mills, grist mills and a starch factory.

Friendship

The Brick School, 1850-1923, in Friendship (2005)

Settled in 1750, its boat building heritage began soon after and became best known for its specialty – the Friendship Sloop. See photos. The town, whose islands extend far out into Muscongus Bay, hosts the Friendship Sloop Races each summer, organized by the Friendship Sloop Society. The harbor, with its wharfs, moorings, and public landing, is a central economic and social focal point for the community.

Freeport

L.L. Bean Stores Campus in Freeport (2012)

is a popular center of “outlet” stores, including the legendary L. L. Bean, which has a virtual campus of retail buildings. See video and photos. It was named, say some, for Sir Andrew Freeport, a character in Addison’s Spectator Papers. Freeport-built vessels Lafayette and Blen were captured and burned by Confederate raiders. Arctic explorer Donald B. MacMillan lived in Freeport, as did a young John Gould, later author, humorist, and newspaper editor.

Cutler

in Washington County, incorporated 1826, is east of East Machias and boasts a large, protected harbor known as Little Machias Bay. A U.S. Navy communication base is on the Bay. Cutler Coast Public Preserved Land, in Cutler and Whiting, has almost five miles of dramatic cliff-bound ocean shore.

Cushing

Olson House and Barns on Hathorn Point in Cushing (2005)

in Knox County, incorporated in 1789, is just south of Thomaston and lies on the western shore of the St. George River. It is famous as the home of Anna “Christina” Olson, Andrew Wyeth’s subject in his now classic “Christina’s World.” The weather beaten house overlooks the Georges River and the family cemetery.

North Haven

Located in Penobscot Bay, it is accessible via the State Ferry Service from Rockland, with connections to Vinalhaven. See video and photos. Fishing was the major industry on the island for many years, with a brief venture into canning. Boat building emerged as a major economic activity producing both fishing vessels and yachts for summer people. Long a resort community, it has few permanent residents. The “Turner Farm Site,” on the National Register, is a treasure of artifacts from Maine pre-history. Calderwood Island nature preserve is here.

Monhegan Island

Chairs on Monhegan Overlooking the Harbor (2007)

Attractive to artists since the late 19th century, its first draw was fish. See video and photos. After early European explorers passed by (Cabot in 1497, Weymouth and Champlain in 1605), the abundance of fish soon became apparent. Botanists have identified over six hundred varieties of wildflowers on the island. Monhegan Light was commissioned on July 2, 1824.