Working Waterfront

Confessions of a coastal upbringing

By Cortney Simmons Between my pointer finger and thumb I can feel the dark green cloth of the sofa as I gently rub it against itself. I gaze out three great windows overlooking a spectacular, coastal view. As warm beams of light drape a dreamy haze on a sunny… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

New England village centers are worth protecting

I grew up on the south shore of Long Island, N.Y. When I was 19, a friend and I traveled to Cape Cod and then western Massachusetts on our college spring break. It was a trip that would change my life. Towns like Amherst and Holyoke in western Massachusetts and… SEE MORE

An aerial view of the summit of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park shows cars circling

Working Waterfront

From Bar Harbor to Portland, parking an ongoing challenge

By Tom Walsh The traffic tsunami inherent in Acadia National Park, which hosted a record 3.5 million visitors in 2017, has the town of Bar Harbor and the National Park Service coping with the conundrum of how best to accommodate seasonal parking for cars, trucks, tour buses, tourist trollies, recreational… SEE MORE

A drone view of the property the city has dubbed "Belfast Yards."

Working Waterfront

City wants development on waterfront lot

Like that of most coastal towns, Belfast’s commercial waterfront is a finite stretch of real estate. Mike Hurley defines it as the shoreline that extends from the Route 1 bridge south to what is known locally as the Boathouse. “There ain’t no more,” jokes Hurley, a city councilor and long-time… SEE MORE

The church on Isle au Haut as seen across the thoroughfare.

Working Waterfront

Isle au Haut church faces crossroads

By Bob Gerber Isle au Haut’s Union Congregational Church occupies a prominent hilltop overlooking the thoroughfare between Kimball Island and the village at the island’s north end. It was built in 1857 at a cost of $1,649 during a period of fervent evangelistic efforts to bring organized religion to island community… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Music is community… again

The dilemma of the music teacher is that sometimes there aren’t enough hours in the day for the music teacher to also play music. Of course, it’s what we love to do. Music teachers began as music students, playing in recitals and sighing our way through Hanon exercises and scales… SEE MORE

The view from a drone of the Southern Harbor House on North Haven.

Working Waterfront

A vision for our elders comes to fruition

Here’s an idea that most would agree with—our elders should be able to age in place. But making this happen on an island or in a remote community is an altogether more difficult challenge than it is where I grew up on the east side of Cleveland. My Grandpa Frank… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Corea hailed by locals and visitors as ‘the real Maine’

LAURIE SCHREIBER The crew prepares food at Joe Young’s Wharf Grill & Gallery. The tiny fishing village of Corea is easily missed by those traveling on the Schoodic Peninsula. Part of the larger town of Gouldsboro, it’s several miles from the peninsula’s portion of Acadia National Park, a hub… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘We Belong Here’ a gift to North Haven

WILLIAM TREVASKIS Charlie Pingree Twenty-three year old Leta Hallowell has been a North Havener since birth. She graduated from North Haven Community School in 2012, studied at Duke University, and taught English in France before returning to her island home. “It’s given me so much, my education, so much of… SEE MORE

Edward French at the offices of The Quoddy Tides.

Working Waterfront

Living in, and telling a community’s story

We journalists are supposed to be objective, but really, the objectivity exists in the work we produce, not in our hearts. The truth is that we tend to be an opinionated bunch. I will admit there are places on the Maine coast I love more than others. One of those… SEE MORE