The Land's End Historic District encompasses a well-preserved enclave of summer residences built in the early 20th century in the Port Clyde area of

St. George, Maine St. George is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. It includes the villages of Port Clyde and Tenants Harbor, with the latter being town's commercial center. A favorite with artists, writers and naturalists, St. George is home to the B ...

. Developed between 1907 and 1919 by

Russell W. Porter Russell Williams Porter (December 13, 1871 – February 22, 1949) was an American artist, engineer, amateur astronomer and Arctic explorer. He was a pioneer in the field of “cutaway illustration" and is sometimes referred to as the "founder" or ...

, it includes an architecturally eclectic mix of modestly scaled cottages. The district was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2011.

Description and history

The town of St. George occupies a peninsula and islands on the west side of

Penobscot Bay Penobscot Bay (french: Baie de Penobscot) is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine and Atlantic Ocean in south central Maine. The bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River, downriver from Belfast, Maine, Belfast. Penobscot Bay has many ...

in the

Mid Coast The Midcoast is a region of Maine that includes the coastal counties of Lincoln, Knox, Waldo, Sagadahoc, and the northern coastal portion of Cumberland counties. Some of the towns are: *Alna * Arrowsic * Bath *Belfast *Boothbay * Boothbay ...

region of southern

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 ...

. The southernmost mainland tip of the peninsula is Marshall Point, where the Marshall Point Light is located. The finger of land between the lighthouse and the village of Port Clyde is where the Land's End colony is located. The colony, unlike other such developments on the Maine coast, consists of a collection of stylistically diverse summer houses. Although the Shingle and Craftsman styles predominate, there are also fine examples of the English Colonial Revival and the French chalet style. The Land's End colony was founded in 1907 by

, an artist, amateur astronomer, and Arctic explorer. After participating in a series of Arctic exploratory expeditions, Porter sought a retreat where he engage pursuits in astronomy and art, and chose the area south of the fishing village of Port Clyde. He spent $950 to purchase the entire peninsula, platted it out for development, and built a number of the cottages. He specifically sought to harmonize the buildings with the surrounding environment, including natural features such as

pergola A pergola is most commonly an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained. The ...

s finished in tree bark, and unfinished wooden interiors. Porter's own house, a stone structure in the English Revival style, includes a rounded section in which he intended to mount a telescope. Porter's experiment came to an end in 1919, when he left for Springfield VT to work at the Jones and Lamson Machine Company.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Shingle Style architecture in Maine Colonial Revival architecture in Maine Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Buildings and structures in Knox County, Maine National Register of Historic Places in Knox County, Maine

Description and history

See also

References