Working Waterfront

What if we’ve been doing ‘growth’ all wrong?

It's always been a double-edged sword. As prosperity works its way up Maine's coast—often in sprints and then strolls—the commercial and residential building that comes with it threatens to taint what attracted that investment in the first place. We've all witnessed the rise of strip malls and big-box stores on… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Stonington’s Hagen Wharf slated for rebuild

A pending project to revitalize Stonington's Hagen Wharf is expected to boost a waterfront attraction central to the town's transient boater and tourist economy. Located downtown, Hagen Wharf comprises a granite pier with a ramp down to several floats, with some public parking. It’s home to the community’s Stonecutter Statue,… SEE MORE

The interior of North Haven's Our Lady of Peace Church.

Working Waterfront

North Haven Catholic church sold to summer resident

For 97 years, Our Lady of Peace has provided a spiritual home for North Haven's Catholic community. It was built and consecrated to attract domestic workers from Ireland to the island, and has since hosted a transient Catholic population, largely made up of summer residents. But due to the declining… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island home helps me grieve great loss

I keep my cell phone in one corner of the kitchen, touching a window, where it receives a one- to two-bar signal frequently enough that the battery will go for a few days before it needs to be recharged. The signal might not be strong enough or steady enough to maintain… SEE MORE

Ashley Bryan holds a copy of Beautiful Blackbird

Working Waterfront

Ashley Bryan reminds us: ‘Beautiful are the souls of my people’

The award-winning children’s book author and illustrator Ashley Bryan from Islesford (Little Cranberry Island) often concludes his storytelling performances with a remarkable recitation of Langston Hughes’s poem “My People,” asking his audience to repeat the lines after him. Everyone goes away with the last line echoing in their heads: “Beautiful,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The summer we built ‘The Camp’

Editor's note: Phil Crossman's brother, Dick, has written this remembrance from the boys' childhood on Vinalhaven. It was just a camp built by boys, because that is what we were back in 1959—boys in search of adventure where Brandy Brook empties its copper colored water into Carver’s Pond, an estuary… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Phil Crossman’s Vinalhaven Observations is history and opinion

Phil Crossman has a new book out called Observations: A Maine Island, a Century of Newsletters and the Stories Found Between the Lines. His name and writing will be familiar to readers of The Working Waterfront and Island Journal over the years as well as his popular book, Away Happens… SEE MORE

Island students learnt to play golf croquet.

Working Waterfront

‘Golf croquet’: new sport a good fit for island schools

This past summer at a luncheon for the recipients of a scholarship program administered by the Island Institute, Melissa Amuso, one of the mothers from Islesford, spoke of the lack of recreational activities for the children in their small school system. It was suggested that "golf croquet" might be appropriate… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Great Cranberry resident Phil Whitney traveled the world, dodged danger

As a “small-town boy” growing up in Southwest Harbor, Phil Whitney had dreams of traveling the world. When he entered the U.S. State Department’s Office of Security, he found himself on a career path that would fulfill his dreams many times over. Over 20 years, Whitney’s service in dignitary protection,… SEE MORE

Beal & Bunker's Sea Queen in Northeast Harbor.

Working Waterfront

Island updates: Cranberry boats, Swan’s blood…

As a ten-times a year publication, The Working Waterfront falls somewhere between newspaper and magazine. We have an active web presence, and try to post our stories there in a timely way (WorkingWaterfront.com and our Facebook page) and we send out a weekly email newsletter with stories, photos and… SEE MORE