Working Waterfront

A belfry, a rope, and a Leatherman

On Aug. 15, 1957, an article appeared in Stonington’s Island Ad-Vantages newspaper reporting on the Isle au Haut church centennial: “Sunday was a great day down on the Gem of the Penobscot. The occasion was the centennial of the Isle au Haut Congregational Church. As the entire community walked up… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Study: lobster has small carbon footprint

In the spring of 2021, the Island Institute undertook a carbon footprint study with Maine-based seafood company and Island Institute partner Luke’s Lobster. It was the first time greenhouse gas emissions were measured along one company’s supply chain of Gulf of Maine lobster. Both the Institute, publisher of The Working… SEE MORE

Wild Blueberry Heritage Center to open in 2023

Working Waterfront

W.R. Allen donates antique canning equipment

Downeast Maine’s Wild Blueberry Heritage Center now owns some of the equipment that helped move the industry into the 20th century. The Wild Blueberry Heritage Center will replace the iconic Wild Blueberry Land bakery and gift shop on Route 1 in Columbia Falls, transforming the giant blueberry dome into a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Housing is top need, survey finds

Economic diversification and workforce development were rated as the second highest priority. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Op-ed: MDI housing crisis affects much more

The town of Mount Desert asserts in clear terms an underlying problem that radiates out into so many other issues. “The high cost for housing is currently one of the primary driving forces behind many of the issues facing the town of Mount Desert,” the town’s comprehensive plan argues. “An… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Transitions and transformation on MDI

When neighbors talk to neighbors, focused on solutions, we build momentum by connecting based on what we value. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Blue Hill’s wastewater blues

A task force in Blue Hill is developing strategies to mitigate the impact of sea level rise on the town’s infrastructure and other resources. And it’s determined that the greatest risk is to the town’s wastewater treatment facility. “It will be an expensive task to upgrade the current facility as… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Home, again, to Matinicus

Not surprisingly, traps and boats and fishing have been a big part of Scott’s life, though that life took him far from the Gulf of Maine. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The Deer Isle causeway’s curvy history

The excellent article on the vulnerability of the Deer Isle causeway (The Working Waterfront, November issue) prompts me to add some history, as well as some things to consider when planning future modifications. Before the causeway was built, passage between Deer Isle and Little Deer, unless by boat, was at… SEE MORE

Port Clyde, 1993, by Malcolm Morley (oil on canvas, 38 by 52 inches Private collection, Maine). Copyright the estate of Malcolm Morley.

Working Waterfront

Malcolm Morley’s Port Clyde collage

An artist with a checkered past—he served time in a U.K. reform school and prison before finding his way to art school and subsequent fame as a painter in New York City—Morley became a U.S. citizen in 1991 at age 60. SEE MORE