Stonington, Maine
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Stonington is a town in Hancock 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 ...
,
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 ...
. It's located on the southern portion of the island of Deer Isle. The population was 1,056 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Burnt Cove, Oceanville, Green Head, and Clam City. A picturesque working waterfront and tranquil tourist destination in eastern
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 ...
, Stonington has consistently ranked among the top lobster ports in the county and is the largest lobster port in Maine. In 2011, 14,854,989 pounds of lobster were landed by Stonington fishermen with a value of $46.3 million.


Deer Isle Settlement

As far back as 6,100 years ago the first inhabitants of Deer Isle were Native Americans known as the
Abenaki The Abenaki (Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was predom ...
, speaking a language called Etchemin. One of the first Europeans to explore the area was Estevan Gomez, a Portuguese working for the Spanish Crown. Gomez sailed his ship ''La Anunciada'' up the Eggemoggin Reach, amongst other places along the Maine coast, looking for gold and the
Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arct ...
. It was the French, however, who would be the most active in the region. Establishing a fort at Castine and intermarrying with Abenaki natives. A body buried in full French armor was discovered on nearby Campbell Island
+44° 13' 20.03", −68° 36' 33.24"
south of Oak Point). The first white settler of Deer Isle was one William Eaton (born 1720 Salisbury, Massachusetts, died Seabrook, New Hampshire) and family, arriving on the island prior to August 4, 1762. They settled in an area now known a
Scott's Landing
(so named for the second owner of the property: Nathaniel Scott) located near the Deer Isle/Little Deer Isle Causeway. By 1765, migration to Deer Isle had begun in earnest and Eaton, along with 16 other families, petitioned the governing state of Massachusetts for legal title to the land. The largest group of these first settlers came from
Newburyport, Massachusetts Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 census. A historic seaport with vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mo ...
and were mostly of Scottish and Irish descent. Ironically, those settlers had come looking for a new life on the land, not the sea. A few cellar holes and foundation stones from the original homesteads can still be found at Scott's Landing and the land they cleared is still open. Settlers continued their southward migration on the island and eventually established the village of Green's Landing (as Stonington was initially known) after 1800.


Green's Landing


Settlement

100 acre "proprietor lots" were granted to those who first settled the island, accelerating the southward migration with the promise of new land. Within a few decades, the yields of acidic soil of the original proprietor lots began to decline and inhabitants of the island took to the sea. Green's Landing, settled , was established by a few pioneering souls on the rocky, windswept southern shore of the island. That sparsely populated village became active in shipbuilding, seafaring, fishing and lobster fishing.


Granite

A barren settlement, Green's Landing changed little in its first 70 or so years. , granite quarrying became a major occupation and little Green's Landing became a boom town. Europeans, mainly from Italy, immigrated to Green's Landing to implement their old-world skills as stonecutters and masons at the numerous ''in-town'' granite quarries. As the demand for stone increased, quarrying moved off-shore to the southerly surrounding islands. Crotch Island
+44° 8' 25.20", −68° 40' 17.26
), the best known ''island'' quarry, was one of 33 major island quarries along the Maine coast, providing work for an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people. Stone excavated in the area has been used to build important structures across the country, including the approaches to the
Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...
(1880s), Croton Aqueduct (NY, 1880),
Holyoke Dam The Holyoke Dam, also referred to as the Hadley Falls Dam, or Hadley Falls Station is a granite dam built in tandem with the Holyoke Canal System at Hadley Falls on the Connecticut River, between Holyoke and South Hadley, Massachusetts. The water d ...
(
Holyoke, Massachusetts Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfield ...
, 1890s), piers for Manhattan/Brooklyn Bridge (Manhattan, 1905), Museum of Fine Arts (
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, 1907),
Rockefeller Rockefeller is a German surname, originally given to people from the village of Rockenfeld near Neuwied in the Rhineland and commonly referring to subjects associated with the Rockefeller family. It may refer to: People with the name Rockefeller fa ...
fountain bowl (Pocantico, New York, 1913), John F. Kennedy Memorial, (
Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...
, 1966) and the new
Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...
among many others. Some other major quarries in operation at the time were The Settlement Quarry (on Deer Isle), Green Island Quarry, and St. Helena Quarry (both separate island quarries).


Boom Town

Many of the new immigrants lived in hotels and large boarding houses built for that purpose at Green's Landing—the current Tewksbury Building being one of many still in use. Some of these new migrants were housed in bunkhouses on Crotch Island itself. Prior to building the Deer Isle-Sedwick bridge and
causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...
in 1939, the settlement's primary link to the outside world was Steamboat Wharf, located west of the main harbor. Once busy with vessels arriving daily from ports such as Rockland and Boston, it was the primary terminus for freight and passengers.


Lobstering & Seafaring

Sailors on the island became renowned for their maritime skills. Full crews for two America's Cup teams were recruited from Deer Isle for the victorious America's Cup Races of 1895 on The Defender and again in 1899 on
Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
. The Stonington harbor has long been filled with Friendship Sloops among other boat designs, powered by sail only. Lobstermen once used them to haul traps. Most of their trips were to the outer islands (like York Island) near Isle au Haut, fishing during the week and returning to the harbor on weekends. This changed with the advent of gasoline or diesel engines, along with new hull designs, which enabled fishermen to make day trips to fishing grounds in Penobscot Bay.Maine.gov -- Stonington, Maine
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Stonington Incorporation

On February 18, 1897, Green's Landing was set off and incorporated by the Maine State Legislature as Stonington—named for its granite quarries.


Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Located on the southern end of Deer Isle, Stonington is situated in Penobscot Bay and the Gulf of Maine, part of the Atlantic Ocean. Stonington is the terminus of State Route 15, which passes through the town of Deer Isle and across the Deer Isle Bridge to the mainland.


Demographics


2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 1,043 people, 515 households, and 305 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 993 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.0% White, 0.2% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.4% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.4% of the population. There were 515 households, of which 19.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 40.8% were non-families. 34.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.03 and the average family size was 2.56. The median age in the town was 50.7 years. 14.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 19.6% were from 25 to 44; 35.8% were from 45 to 64; and 23.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 49.7% male and 50.3% female.


2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,152 people, 502 households, and 326 families residing in the town. The population density was 117.5 people per square mile (45.4/km). There were 909 housing units at an average density of 92.7 per square mile (35.8/km). The racial makeup of the town was 96.79% White, 0.09% African American, 0.61% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 1.48% from other races, and 0.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.87% of the population. There were 502 households, out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.2% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.9% were non-families. 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.78. In the town the population was spread out, with 23.4% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 18.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $28,894, and the median income for a family was $34,375. Males had a median income of $27,500 versus $19,063 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,634. About 9.6% of families and 12.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.6% of those under age 18 and 16.5% of those age 65 or over.


References


Further reading

* * *


External links


Town of Stonington, Maine

Stonington Public Library

Deer Isle – Stonington Chamber of Commerce


a photo-essay by Thomas R. & Deborah A. Fletcher {{authority control Towns in Hancock County, Maine Towns in Maine