The Island Inn, Monhegan: Facts

MONHEGAN ISLAND

Monhegan Island is situated out in the open sea, about 10 miles from the mainland, and is generally believed to be the first settled place in Maine. Visited centuries ago by Basque and Portugese fishermen, a plaque adjacent to the island's one room schoolhouse commemorates a more recent visit in 1614, by John Smith, who was an English Naval Captain and Governor of Virginia.

In more recent centuries the island became a center for fishing, a haven for artists, and a summer retreat for poeple attracted to its scenery, its flora and fauna, and its history.

The many natural attractions include its virgin forest of firs and balsam; the headlands on the backside of the island; the coves and ledges around the island; the ice pond and its surround, from which ice was harvested not too long ago; the harbor seals found on the Duck Rocks near Pebble Beach; the unusual and rare flowers and plants and the thousands of migrating birds; and the whales that pass the island on their passage from north to south and back. The sunsets and sunrises, both over the ocean, offer a magnificent display of natures's most unbelievable colors and on a clear night the display across the skies, of the heavens and their stars, glisten unpolluted by ground light and city air. The northern lights are also evident at certain times from the island, offering a ghostly curtain of light shimmering across the northern sky.

In addition to the natural attractions, the island is home to a working fishing village and an art community of international reputation with galleries open during the summer and workshops taking place throughout the season. A lighthouse dating from 1807, and the adjacent Lighthouse Keepers house, is now home to the Monhegan Historical and Cultural Museum, established in 1960. The museum offers exhibits of the life and works of Monhegan Island, both of the artists and the fishermen and their families, and all those who have established and maintained the island over the centuries. The Assistant Lighthouse Keepers house was rebuilt in 1998 as a gallery to accommodate the impressive collection of art works owned by, and on loan to, the museum. Great American artists such as Rockwell Kent and Edward Hopper are represented there.

The village itself is anchored by the schoolhouse and the library at the north end of the meadow road, and the church and post office at the southern end of the village. Various businesses are located along this meadow road, providing basic foodstuffs, artworks and island handicrafts, and places to eat. The Island Inn and the Barnacle are found on the wharf road that leads from the ferry landing to the meadow road. The Pierce Cotttage is located adjacent to the Island Inn but on the meadow road, and looks towards the lighthouse and across the meadow. This tight center of the community, and the wharf, is all located within five minutes of each other.

From this village community, all the hiking trails radiate to one end of the island and the other, through the forests and meadows, out to the headlands, and along the coves and ledges. These 17 miles of trails which meander and climb throughout the island are located on the "wildlands" belonging to the Monhegan Associates, an island land trust which has accepted the responsibility of holding and maintaining the land in its natural form, for all future generations to enjoy.

The island, which is about 1.7 miles long by 0.7 miles wide, is a beautiful and fragile place, whose balance is easily affected by visitors - every effort should be made not to alter its natural state. Its habitat should be treated with respect, plants and mosses must not be uprooted or picked, all trash and waste should be removed from the island, and it must be understood that the danger of fire always exists and no smoking is permitted outside the village area. In addition, the Island Inn does not permit smoking within its buildings.

The trails are marked by small blocks of wood, with numbers, attached to the trees, or by rock cairns along the cliffs. Follow the trail to Whitehead where, on a clear day, a magnificent panorama of the ocean and cliffs, some of the highest in New England, is found. To Lobster Cove, on the south end of the island, where the wreck of the D.T. Sheridan is scattered on the rocks - a magnificent place to witness the power and glory of the breaking waves and crashing surf. To Pebble Beach for an exciting seal watch, and on to Pulpit Rock and Blackhead at the northern end of the island. The trails also lead through Cathedral Woods where the magnificent and awe inspiring Firs tower and arch above you as if providing a gothic roof to the congregation below. There is also a beautiful path which takes you to the ice pond, past the old wooden building where ice was once stored, and on along a wooden boardwalk that leads down to a rocky ledge, from which you can view the most glorious sunsets or just enjoy the sights and smells of the ocean.

Monhegan Island is a magnificent reminder of what nature has produced, and we hope that you will be able to take the opportunity to visit and enjoy for yourself all that it has to offer.

Box 128

Monhegan Island

Maine 04852

Tel: 1 (207) 596-0371

Fax: 1 (207) 594-5517

E-mail:
islandin@midcoast.com

MONHEGAN ISLAND