Small town population changes in Maine

[Northern Maine Land Man]

My son used to work at the "French Camp" on Deer Isle. He was an outfitter. The first summer, the owner asked if he knew how to run a bout. He did; having about 15 years experience at the age of 18. He was asked to take the mail and supplies out to Isle Au Haut, about 12 miles off the coast. Two hours later he was working on the sailboats at the docks. The owner came down and asked if he was going to Isle Au Haut. He was.

"Well, when are you going?"

"I figure I'll go at high tide. It's my first time to Isle Au Haut and I figure high tide is the best time to go. I'll have plenty of time do get back before dark and the wind will die down about 5 PM."

The owner was amazed that this kid could think for himself and knew what he was doing. We brought him some supplies and when we got there he was in a game of Twister in a pile of people including Miss Wisconsin. It was a good summer.

Maine kids; more resourceful and knowledgeable than they may seem at first glance.

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by BrokenTap

To answer your question...Criehaven Island is NOT a town. It is a island community and even then only in the summer months. The majority of the people on that island (9) are lobstermen and use it as a base of operations. When I was out there, we lobstered for 4 days and then came in, using the house on the island as a nightly port...that is all.

At one time it was more lively, with a post office and store, but today with a boat run in to Port Clyde taking 3 hours or so, its not a real town.

I would say it has 20 homes, one community hand dug well, an ity bity library and 350 acres of trees and rocks. It also has a grass runway so planes can get in, a meager dock and a cemetery...but that is about it. Being the furthest inhabited island in Maine (but not year around), it gets slammed by the wind pretty hard. All in all Criehaven is about what it does not have that makes it special...no one really knows it exists.

Oh, and by the way, its called Ragged Island on the map which is why most people cannot find it. It is 10 NM's from Matinicus Rock, or 28 NM's from shore.

Memoir of childhood on Criehaven in the early 20th century, when Criehaven was still inhabited year-round: Amazon.com: The Island's True Child (9780892726189): Dorothy Simpson: Books

"When three-year-old Dot Simpson came to Criehaven in 1908, it was truly a world unto itself. To us, it might seem an unbearably limited and unrelentingly hard way of life, yet it clearly offered something immensely satisfying, too. Dot wrote that anyone who moved off-island would invariably return."