Islesford

The main village of the Cranberry Islands, Islesford on Little Cranberry Island is a 20-minute mail boat or ferry ride from Northeast Harbor. Visitors often come to see the Islesford Historical Museum, which features family memorabilia and the tales of independent, everyday lives of self-reliance. Exhibits — tools, fishing, household items, lifesaving gear, ship models and shipbuilding, woodworking, etc. — relate to island living dating from the early 1800s. It’s open daily from mid-June through September, 9 a.m. (10:45 a.m. on Sundays) to noon and 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Facilities include restrooms, drinking fountains, and a small bookstore, and admission is free.

The museum originally was housed in the nearby building known as the Blue Duck, built around 1850, and used as a ship’s store for at least 25 years before becoming home base (1919-1927) for the Islesford Historical Society. Both buildings, today listed on the National Register of Historic Places, became part of Acadia National Park in 1948.

A popular resident of Islesford is ‘Renaissance Man’ Ashley Bryan (b. 1923 in Harlem, New York City), an artist, poet, book author and illustrator, storyteller, bookbinder, puppet maker, and former professor of art at Dartmouth College. Bryan, who began spending summers on Little Cranberry over 60 years ago, moved here in the mid-1980s after retiring from Dartmouth. Specializing in the colorful retelling of African and Caribbean folk tales, he has won the Coretta Scott King Award (or been honored by its committee) nine times. In 2009 Bryan also received the 17th Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for having made, over many years, a substantial and lasting contribution to children’s literature.