The Pemaquid Light fog signal bell shown on a postcard dating to about 1905. PHOTO: MAINE MARITIME MUSEUM

Working Waterfront

Centuries-old infrastructure laid bare

Coastal Maine continues to reel from the effects of back-to-back January storms that caused long-lasting damage to working waterfronts, homes, areas of leisure, as well as cultural heritage sites. By nature of their location, lighthouses and their supporting structures are especially vulnerable to the destruction caused by extreme winds, surf,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The new shape of water

How does water shape communities? I think about this as I load onto the Sunbeam on my way to Frenchboro, an island community off the coast of Mount Desert Island. It is a beautiful blue-sky morning, deceivingly sunny for my weather app to be reading 20 degrees. Working and living… SEE MORE

The Oliver’s Ridge workforce housing project on Deer Isle, shortly after construction concluded.

Working Waterfront

‘Attainable’ housing: lessons learned

Deer Isle and Stonington and Mount Desert Island are separated by a short hop across Blue Hill Bay. But if housing shortages are to be addressed, those two regions should tailor their work differently, and consider solutions within the context of a micro-region. That was one of the takeaways from… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

On the record with… Cliff Island’s Bonnie Rideout

I think of Cliff Island as my thinking place. It inspires me, the nature, and of course the people are really special to me. How often do you see and know people your entire life since you were a little kid? SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Herring Gut Science Center names new director

Sarah D. Oktay, PhD has joined the Herring Gut Coastal Science Center as executive director. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

When communes sprouted in Maine

Politically motivated violence. Defiance of the legal order. Rejection of long-held moral values. A widespread move toward a new social order. I’m not talking about the state of our nation today, but about the late 1960s and early 1970s, an era that impacted coastal Maine and in many ways still… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Our readers have opinions

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Photo correction To the Editor: The photos of the storm damage in the February/March issue of the newspaper were great, but the ruined lobster shack in Bernard on Mount Desert Island is not the town wharf, as the caption read, but a private wharf and shack… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Human loss and devastating damage

On Jan. 5, five days before a storm would wreak havoc along the Maine coast, the town of Cranberry Isles suffered the unexpected death of one of its citizens. Cory Alley collapsed in his skiff on the way out to his mooring. As his wife, Cari, and their youngest son… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Islesboro’s Olivia Britton serving on UMaine board

“The decisions that happen at the board level, even though they are sometimes complicated and a little bit confusing, affect our everyday lives,” Britton said SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Finding the essence of the Lost Kitchen

Big Heart Little Stove: Bringing Home Meals & Moments From The Lost Kitchen By Erin French (with Rachel Holtzman); Celadon Books, 2023. I think it’s safe to say, at least in Maine and for her many fans, Erin French is considered something of a treasure. She has put a spotlight… SEE MORE