Dark Harbor is a village located on the most southern end of the town of

Islesboro Islesboro is a town in Waldo County, Maine, United States, comprising Islesboro Island and several smaller islands. The population was 583 at the 2020 census. It has a summer colony accessible by state ferry service from Lincolnville Beach thr ...

Waldo Waldo may refer to: People * Waldo (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Waldo (surname), a list of people * Waldo (footballer) (1934-2019), full name Waldo Machado da Silva, Brazilian footballer Places Canada * Waldo, ...

County,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. Altogether, Dark Harbor consumes one-quarter of the land in

. Many prominent families from New York, Philadelphia, and Boston took summer residency in Dark Harbor.

History

Dark Harbor, named for the synonymous meaning of obscure or hidden, was noted in the turn of the century for its picturesque summer cottages. Following the founding of the Islesboro Land and Improvement Company, the Dark Harbor summer resort began in 1888. The village was the third summer resort location to be built in Islesboro. Organized in 1902, The Dark Harbor Association was formed mostly of summer residents whose main goal was to improve and beautify the village. The association was responsible for installing and maintaining things like flower boxes, benches, and for mowing lawns. Since transportation was so limited in the early years, the summer resort built an entire community within the village. Vacationers on Dark Island had access to all of the normal luxuries like a grocery store, stables, blacksmith shops, other types of various shops, a Christ Church, a library, and even their own post office.

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, and

yacht racing Yacht racing is a Sailing (sport), sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marke ...

were popular forms of entertainment for Dark Harbor's summer residents. Founded in 1896, The Tarratine Yacht Club provided the residents with a central place for all three sports. Throughout the years, Dark Harbor has been visited by various famous people such as former

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

President,

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. Roosevelt visited his daughter, who vacationed on the island, in 1917.

Mary Mallon Mary Mallon (September 23, 1869 – November 11, 1938), commonly known as Typhoid Mary, was an Irish-born American cook believed to have infected between 51 and 122 people with typhoid fever. The infections caused three confirmed deaths, ...

, infamous for being the first named

asymptomatic In medicine, any disease is classified asymptomatic if a patient tests as carrier for a disease or infection but experiences no symptoms. Whenever a medical condition fails to show noticeable symptoms after a diagnosis it might be considered asy ...

Typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

carrier in the United States, also visited Dark Harbor in the early 1900s. Accompanying the family of J. Coleman Drayton, Mallon stayed on the island as a cook in 1902, infecting seven members of the family.

Typhoid Fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

was otherwise rare in the village of Dark Harbor. The community still serves as a summer colony and home to some of Maine's upper-class.

Notable people

, 26th United States President *

, asymptomatic typhoid carrier

References

{{authority control Villages in Waldo County, Maine Populated coastal places in Maine