black and white photo of view of Monhegan from Manana

Island Journal

Monhegan at 400: “A Fortunate Island”

Of all the Maine islands I favor Monhegan, a solitary whale couchant in a blue field of sea, sixteen miles distant with nothing beyond but more sea and the coast of France. —Martin Dibner, Seacoast Maine: People and Places (1987) It has been 400 years since the English explorer Captain… SEE MORE

History

Island Journal

A North Haven Gift—June Hopkins

The sign on the front of the 19th-century frame building is very much like the woman who has run the business inside for the last 60 years. gift shop, it reads. No more, no less. June Hopkins, who turned 90 on November 2, 2013, is as plainspoken and direct as… SEE MORE

Business

Island Journal

A Rock Revived: Newfoundland’s Fogo Island

Fogo Island’s story is one of survival. In modern times, this 92-square-mile island has survived the provincial government’s attempts to resettle the population, the demise of the cod fishery that sustained Newfoundland for centuries, and the severe economic downturn caused by loss of the cod. But the rugged residents of… SEE MORE

Islands From Away

Island Journal

The Year Steel and Cable Changed Deer Isle

Does an island lose its “islandness” when a bridge is built linking it to the mainland? For Deer Isle and Little Deer Isle, the question is not hypothetical. For the last 75 years, a bridge has wrought changes to the two Penobscot Bay islands and to Stonington, the busy fishing… SEE MORE

History

Students walking from the ferry onto Islesboro.

Island Journal

Islesboro School’s Island Magnetism

On Halloween morning, as the Margaret Chase Smith crossed the silvery reach of Penobscot Bay between Islesboro and the mainland, the passenger compartment was abuzz with the sounds of giggling children putting the final touches on their costumes. The quieter, Carhartt-clad workmen who also rode the ferry for the three-mile-long… SEE MORE

Communities