Deer Isle and Stonington

By Deer Isle-Stonington Historical Society

Deer Isle, a coastal town in Penobscot Bay, was settled by farmers and mariners in the 1760s after the end of the French and Indian War. People, freight, and mail came by water to the secluded island where mackerel and lobster fishing were the mainstays of the island's economy. In the late 19th century, granite from booming Stonington quarries was shipped by boat. Summer visitors began arriving by the boatload to rusticate in gracious inns and seasonal cottages. These became the subjects of vintage postcards, many created by local photographers capturing the views of harbors and towns, rural roads and bridges, masts of the great sailing vessels, and derricks of the large quarries.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Jun 9, 2008
• ISBN: 9781439620328

Deer Isle-Stonington Historical Society

Deer Isle and Stonington was compiled by the Deer Isle-Stonington Historical Society with photographs from the society's collection. Proceeds from the book will benefit the society.

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INTRODUCTION

Postcard history begins about 1905 on Deer Isle, long after the island in Penobscot Bay was settled. American Indians, who spent summers on the island fishing, leaving shell heaps to mark their presence, were gone. Explorers from Europe had sailed into the bay but did not stay. Only after the French and Indian War in the 1760s did English settlers, many from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, come to farm and fish. Some of those who came were master mariners who gave up the sea and swallowed the anchor to stay home with their families.

The island was settled from north to south with some of the earliest settlers clearing farms along Eggemoggin Reach. The first business and social center was Northwest Harbor, which came to be called Deer Isle village. The town was incorporated in 1789 by the General Court of Massachusetts. (Maine was part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts until 1820.)

The earliest industries were tidal sawmills and gristmills at Northwest Harbor and Southeast Harbor. The land wore out, and islanders soon turned to shipbuilding and fishing. They were enterprising people like Ignatius Haskell, who came with his father, Mark Haskell, from Massachusetts to Deer Isle in 1778. They built a sawmill and gristmill and had a sail loft and shipbuilding business. In 1793, Ignatius Haskell built a large house on the harbor, which later became known as the Ark, a boardinghouse for summer visitors. The Ark still stands, now known as Pilgrim’s Inn.

Cod was the earliest fish caught by the islanders. In 1825, as the cod supply diminished, mackerel was fished on long trips to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Bay de Chaleur. From 1830 to 1860, South Deer Isle, on Southeast Harbor, and Oceanville, across the harbor, were busy communities, with stores, churches, schools, sail lofts, and a customhouse for the duties on salt imported from Spain. Lobstering began in the 1850s, and lobsters and clams were canned in Green’s Landing and Oceanville.

In the mid-19th century, steamers began transporting passengers and freight between Rockland and Deer Isle. In the 1890s, summer visitors came to stay in boardinghouses like the Ark, Pleasant View, and Lynnmore in Deer Isle; Felsted and the Firs in Sunset; and Babson’s Inn in Eggemoggin. Some built cottages, principally at Eggemoggin and Dunham’s Point, creating summer colonies. Descendants of the early summer families continue to come to Deer Isle.

About 1860, Job Goss discovered the rich deposits of granite in what was called Green’s Landing at the southern end of the island. The granite quarries flourished, and by 1897, Green’s Landing had become a boomtown and was separately incorporated as Stonington. There were large quarries on Moose Island, Crotch Island, and later in the Settlement Quarry in Oceanville. Stoneworkers came to the island from Italy, Scotland, and Scandinavia. Boardinghouses in Stonington were filled with immigrants at the same time that Deer Isle hotels were boarding wealthy summer visitors. The granite industry flourished until the 1930s when steel and concrete replaced granite for construction. Granite for monuments continued to be in demand. The last major contract for Deer Isle pink granite was for the John F. Kennedy Memorial.

With the separate incorporation of Stonington in 1897, the island had two towns. Within the two towns, there were many small villages with churches, schools, stores, and post offices. Deer Isle village’s post office opened in 1820, continuing to date. Green’s Landing’s postal service began in 1854, continuing as Stonington 1897 to date. Post offices existed at South Deer Isle (1832–1903), Oceanville (1855–1954), Sunset (1886 to date), Sunshine (1892–1940), Mountainville (1892–1914), North Deer Isle (1862–1947), Little Deer Isle (1895 to date), West Deer Isle (1869–1887), Eggemoggin (mostly summers, 1895–1934), the Reach (1899–1903), and Eagle Island (1901–1942).

Vessels powered by steam and sail were part of the life of the island. Known for their skill as sailors, Deer Isle and Stonington men crewed and captained pleasure yachts for wealthy New Yorkers. The crews from the America’s Cup winners Defender and Columbia were all islanders.

By the 1920s, automobiles had come to the island. Tarring of the main roads began in 1930, since gravel and dirt roads did not hold up under the increased traffic. Drivers complained about the difficulty of getting to the island from the mainland by ferry scow. The granite industry also urged the building of a bridge. After years of debate, the decision was made to build the Deer Isle-Sedgwick Bridge, which opened in 1939, changing the island forever.

One

TOWNS AND VILLAGES

Deer Isle was created as a town in 1789 by the General Court of Massachusetts, of which Maine was still a part. Here the post office, markets, general stores, a sail loft, a pants factory, a tannery, and a shipyard were located. Looking up Bridge Street into the town, in the center is the town hall; in the background, on the left, is the library, and on the right, are the Masonic hall and schools.

The mansard-style building on the village side of the mill dam was the Deer Isle Town Hall from