The sea served as highway and railroad

by Charles Francis

There is no doubt about it, Boothbay Harbor is one of the most beautiful towns on the coast of Maine. This is one of the reasons why it attracts so many summer visitors who return year after year to wander its delightful streets exploring unique boutiques, sampling the fine food of its restaurants, or taking a cruise on one of the many vessels that call Boothbay Harbor their home port.

Boothbay Harbor is more than a simple tourist attraction, though. The stately Victorian homes speak to a bygone era when ship captains walked the town’s streets. The footbridge across the harbor gives glimpses of offshore islands where summer colonies bask in the sun much the way they did a century and more ago.

If there is a single thread running through Boothbay Harbor’s history it is the sea. The peninsula on which it sits — smack in the middle of the most jagged and broken shoreline in the world — could almost pass for an island. For this reason, the residents of the town have always looked to the vast blue stretches of the Atlantic rather than inland. In fact, when there was some desultory discussion of the Knox and Lincoln Railway running a spur to the Boothbay waterfront in the 1870s, there was no interest in town. The sea was the townspeople’s highway and railroad, and nothing illustrates this more than the vessels which have been associated with the area since its earliest days. They are vessels bearing names like Little Squirrel, Little James, Bowdoin, Sunbeam, Argo, and Balmy Days. And, they and others like them all add their bit to the storied communities and islands of the Boothbay region.

Today Boothbay Harbor is home to all sorts of pleasure craft, lobster and fishing boats, and cruise ships. Long before these vessels appeared in Linekin and Sheepscot bays, however, the ships of captains like John Smith, Bartholomew Gosnold, George Wey- mouth, and Samuel Champlain cruised off Boothbay. The explorers were followed by Basque, Breton, Portuguese, and English fishermen. Then came the fur traders.

Probably the first shipwreck in the Boothbay region was that of Sir Humphrey Gilbert’s Little Squirrel. The Little Squirrel was a fur trader that sank in a storm in Boothbay Harbor in 1583. Tradition has it that Squirrel Island, the nearest land where the Little Squirrel floundered, is named for her. In the 1880s a group of Lewiston businessmen and college professors from Bates purchased the island for $2,200 for a secluded retreat. Today the Squirrel Island Corporation maintains that tradition of peaceful reclusiveness.

In 1624 the Little James suffered a fate similar to that of the Little Squirrel. The Little James was the first coastal trader and fishing boat owned by the Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony. She was wrecked off Cape Newagen. Unlike the Little Squirrel, the Little James was salvaged, however. Undoubtedly her repairs were a heavy financial burden for the struggling Pilgrim colony.

It would not be until the early nineteenth century that the first lighthouses would be built to warn mariners of the rocky coast and shoals of the Boothbay region. Altogether seven were constructed. These include Ram Island, The Cuckolds, and Burnt Island at the entrance to Boothbay Harbor and Hendricks Head off of Southport in Sheepscot Bay.

During the Revolution and the War of 1812, British warships caused more than a bit of trouble for Boothbay area fishermen and residents. The infamous Lieutenant Henry Mowatt appropriated some sheep and other victuals for his ships during a stopover at Boothbay when he was on his way to set fire to Portland (then Falmouth). Another

British landing party set fire to Benjamin Sawyer’s tavern on Ship’s island. Sawyer was able to repair the damage, however. Today the former tavern is thought to be Boothbay’s oldest house. The fact that Sawyer chose to have his tavern on an island speaks to how local residents regarded the water as a roadway. Today the island is known as Sawyer’s Island.

In the mid-1800s Boothbay and Southport rivaled Gloucester as Grand Banks fishing ports. By the turn of the twentieth century, however, the deepwater fisherman had been replaced by the lobsterman, and tourism had become the backbone of the area’s economy. Beautiful Spruce Point saw the construction of some sixty log cabins as well as famous Sprucewold Lodge, one of the largest log hotels in the country.

During the Great War Boothbay shipyards worked round the clock to build vessels for the American military. (cont. on page 38)

(cont. from page 37)

Here, too, one of the most famous vessels ever built in Maine, the Bowdoin of Arctic explorer Donald MacMillan, was constructed.

During World War II Captain Eliot Winslow, commander of the Coast Guard Cutter Argo, often anchored in Boothbay waters. In May of 1945 four German submarines surrendered to the Argo in Casco Bay. Captain Winslow went on to serve as first officer for Bath Iron Works naval vessel trial runs. Later he operated a cruise ship out of Boothbay Harbor. The ship was named the Argo after his Coast Guard cutter.

Today the Boothbay region continues its maritime traditions with more than forty cruise vessels. As for the town of Boothbay Harbor, it is definitely a walking town in the summer when cars fill its narrow winding streets that were laid out and built long before the automobile was even thought of, and the sea was the most important avenue of transportation.

Fudge Factory

Original Downeast fudge made daily using New England family recipes from a blend of imported cocoa beans plus fresh cream and butter. We are the connoiseur’s choice.

Daffy Taffy Factory

See operating antique turn-of-the-century Kiss Wrapping Machine. Watch the Harbor’s only candy-maker cook, pull, flavor, design and wrap Maine’s nicest-eating Saltwater Taffy. Our Peanut Butter Kisses are World’s Best!

Fudge Factory Daffy Taffy Factory

Both located at 7 By-Way in Boothbay Harbor, Maine (Downeast Candies • P.O. Box 25 • Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538 • 207-633-5178)

Shaw’s Fish & Lobster Wharf Restaurant

“Casual Inside and Outside Dining on a Traditional Maine Fishing Wharf”

“Seafood at its Best”

Steaks & Chowders Too!

Featuring Single, Twin & Triple Lobster Specials and Select Your Own Larger Lobsters!

207-677-2200

Route 32, New Harbor • Maine shaws-wharf.com