Working Waterfront

From Aunt Annie’s point of view

The house I live in was Adrianna Bunker’s home from roughly 1869 until the mid-1920s. For about 20 years she cooked in a small kitchen in the back half of what is now my living room. In 1889, her husband Emery modernized the house by connecting it with an ell… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Tomalley and other lobster conundrums

Picture an illustrated paper placemat in any restaurant along the coast. The red and white directions for eating a steamed lobster are what pop into my mind. I’m pretty sure that lobster is the only Maine commodity that rates a placemat with instructions on how to break it up and… SEE MORE

Gordon Page chats with the manager of Rock City Café.

Working Waterfront

On the record with… Rockland downtown’s Gordon Page

Gordon Page came to Rockland in 1982 for a job at National Sea Products, a company on the city’s waterfront that processed frozen blocks of fish. Today, he’s the executive director of Rockland Main Street, a nonprofit group that works to boost the city’s downtown business district. The bookends to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island fire rekindles fears, appreciation

By Phil Showell More than 50 years ago I was sitting on a porch at my parent’s place on Sheep Island. It lies in the New Meadows River, opposite the Basin, a sensually stunning refuge from stormy weather known to most who cruise Maine’s coast. I was riveted by what… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Islesboro’s lead on broadband is model for success

If Maine followed Islesboro’s example, we would soon be the most connected state in the nation. On June 18, Islesboro voted to join a very limited number of towns across the country with universal access to gigabit broadband speeds. When the $3.8 million project is complete, this high-speed service will… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Vinalhaven to celebrate work of noted children’s author

Margaret Wise Brown, author of such children's classics as Goodnight Moon, The Runaway Bunny and The Little Island, had a deep love for Vinalhaven. In fact, the home she bought on Long Cove is the only house she ever owned. Perhaps that's why she called it the Only House. Brown… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Imagination, creativity kindled in fairy houses

Reflections is a monthly column written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in remote coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. Alana Flanagan works on Vinalhaven with the school and Partners in Island Education; she leaves her fellowship… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Understanding Portland, understanding Maine

There are no cities in Maine. With a population of about 66,000, Portland doesn’t qualify, at least by national standards. If Portland were in Massachusetts, it would be the 15th largest community, bigger than Haverill but smaller than Framingham. And city or not, Portland is often dismissed these days as… SEE MORE

Houses in Portland's East End. A report has concluded that almost half of the city's residents are paying too much in rent.

Working Waterfront

City acts to ease Portland housing shortage

Like many cities in New England and across the country, Portland is facing a housing crisis. There’s not enough housing to meet the demand and the cost of housing often far exceeds what many people can afford to pay. And just like their peers, Portland’s leaders are making easing the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island book club lands George Mitchell as speaker

There are many things that set Vinalhaven apart from the rest of the world but what really distinguishes us is our Gentlemen’s Book Group. Begun about ten years ago by an enterprising lobsterman trying to rise above his station, the group at first numbered about 15 island men. Of these,… SEE MORE