Bass Harbor

Standing atop a jumble of pink granite on the very edge of Mount Desert Island’s southwestern shore, Bass Harbor Head Light Station has always been a welcoming beacon when we’ve cruised up Jericho Bay toward the island. But we’d never visited the small white tower and its red-roofed keeper’s house. Last summer, I decided it was time we did. Besides, I’d been wanting to go to Bass Harbor. The village shares the eponymous harbor with the village of Bernard, its neighbor just across the water; together they comprise the town of Tremont.

The sun was still climbing in the eastern sky when we arrived at the landmark beacon on a brilliant June morning. I’d heard about crowds—some 180,000 people every year—and very limited parking, but at that early hour, we had the place nearly to ourselves. We took our time admiring the stalwart, 19th-century structures; the light is said to be among the most-photographed in the country. The light has also been featured on both a U.S. postage stamp and the back of the Maine quarter.  

We then turned seaward to the view of Great Gott Island, a mile offshore, and Black, Swan’s, and Long islands, not far beyond. I was especially intrigued by Great Gott (also known as Gotts Island), as I’d been reading Spoonhandle, a 1946 New York Times best-selling novel by Ruth Moore, a native of the island.
Celebrated in the first part of the 20th century, Moore seems to have fallen off the radar since. Once compared to Faulkner, her books are just beginning to be rediscovered, and I find her pitch-perfect portrayal of salty Mainers delightful. Set in the early 1940s on an imaginary downeast island that sounds a lot like the Bass Harbor area, Spoonhandle’s story of hardscrabble families weaves together neighborliness, feuds, love of land, gossip, greed, and romance. The dialogue, written with a keen ear for the era’s local vernacular, gives voice to the book’s strong sense of place.  

On our way from the lighthouse into Bass Harbor village, we passed a large brick building set right on the harbor. Now home to eight condos, it was a vital part of this fishing community for nearly a century. It opened in 1889 when the Underwood Sardine Company was forced to leave nearby Southwest Harbor because fish-processing odors were seen as a deterrent to the nascent tourism business. Until it closed in the late 1960s, the facility also canned other fish, clams, and even small, whole lobsters. The latter were mostly shipped to Britain, where it was fashionable to use them as garnishes. 

The processing plant may be no more, but the long, deep harbor is today home to a large and successful lobstering fleet. The quietest part of Mount Desert’s so-called “quiet side,” Bass Harbor remains anchored in the fishing industry. There are limited tourist facilities here, and most people who visit the lighthouse quickly head off to other don’t-miss spots.

True to their heritage, folks in these parts are an independent bunch. Back in the early 1900s, Bass Harbor hadn’t yet been officially named. A federal post office was being built, so the government asked the community what it should be called. It’s said a local wise guy declared, “Name it after the president for all we care.” And so it became McKinley, Maine. Finally, in 1961, residents petitioned to have the name changed back to Bass Harbor.

Just offshore, a large salmon-farming operation can be counted among the area’s thriving fisheries. Aboard the R. L. Gott, Island Cruises’s 40-foot lobsterboat-style sightseeing vessel, Capt. Eli Strauss took us so close to Cooke Aquaculture’s operation that we could see the salmon swimming in the floating pens. 

Dozens of seals lazing on wave-washed ledges and a bald eagle atop an evergreen monitored the Gott as we motored alongside nearby Black Island. Granite quarrying boomed here until 1910, when the development of concrete displaced the stone as the preferred construction material for monumental edifices. Cruising past the seaward side of the island, we learned about another former enterprise: A pocket harbor that can’t be seen from the mainland is called Rum Cove because of its role in Prohibition-era liquor smuggling. 

For me, the highlight of the two-hour trip was an up-close look at Great Gott Island and its scattering of simple, weathered houses. Daniel and Hannah Gott and their nine children were the first white family to settle here, in 1789, and a year-round community continued until 1930—Ruth Moore and her family included. Strauss’s family has long owned property on the island, too, some of it purchased from the Moores. The island still has no electricity, no automobiles, and only dirt lanes. Living out here, even in summer, requires an ample reserve of self-sufficiency—just as it did some 80 years ago, when Moore was writing. 

Heading back into Bass Harbor through the crowd of moored lobsterboats, I was reminded of Spoonhandle’s fisherman brothers, Hod and Willie, heading offshore on their rugged dragger. I could just about smell their bait ripening in the sun and feel their excitement over hauling in a 200-pound halibut on a handline. In this still-classic Maine fishing village, I don’t think it would have surprised me to see them, strong and sunburned, ambling down the dock. 

✮

Contributing editor Mimi Bigelow Steadman lives on the Damariscotta River in Edgecomb.

If you go to Bass Harbor

On the Water

Bass Harbor is only open to the south, and the islands lying just off its mouth help to protect it. The town of Tremont maintains 160 feet of transient dockage on a float next to Thurston’s Lobster Pound in Bernard. The overnight rate is $2.50 per foot. Gas and diesel are available at Thurston’s. There is also a public boat ramp here. Harbormaster Tyler Damon says navigating the harbor can be a challenge because of the many moored boats. He asks that visiting yachts call him (207-244-4564) before entering. He will meet them near the ferry terminal and guide them in. The Captain Henry Lee departs the Maine State Ferry Terminal in Bass Harbor multiple times every day for the 40-minute trip between Bass Harbor and Swan’s Island, 6 miles offshore. The ferry also travels on to Frenchboro, on Long Island, located 8-1/2 miles from Bass Harbor. Spend a few hours ashore on the islands, or just enjoy a scenic roundtrip cruise.

Do

There is no access to Bass Harbor Head Light Station’s interior, but visitors may take a paved walkway or a path to the rocks to view its façade. There is a small parking area, but it gets very crowded at sunset. Parking along the access road is prohibited. Because the site is part of Acadia National Park, an entrance pass is required. Climb aboard Island Cruises’s R. L. Gott for an engaging two-hour trip on the waters surrounding Bass Harbor. The tour is called a nature cruise, but it’s much more than that. Capt. Eli Strauss shares a wealth of personal experience as well as his broad knowledge of the area, its history, people, wildlife, and lobstering tradition. Pick up a book by Ruth Moore, and immerse yourself in traditional downeast culture. Her work includes novels Spoonhandle and The Wier, as well as books of poetry, including Cold As A Dog and the Wind Northeast. They are currently being re-published by Maine’s Islandport Press, and are available both from the publisher and on Amazon. Bass Harbor Memorial Library celebrates the hometown author every year in late July during Ruth Moore Days. Across the street from the old Underwood fish-processing plant, the former Richardson’s
Country Store, dating from 1902, is now a museum owned by the Tremont Historical Society. It houses displays of tools, fishing gear, items from the Underwood factory, local photographs, and other 19th- and 20th-century artifacts. It’s open Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday afternoons, July through Columbus Day, but call ahead to confirm.

Eat 

Serving lunch and dinner in the heart of Bass Harbor, Seafood Ketch has delicious, well-priced seafood (and land-sourced) dishes; lovely harbor views from an outdoor patio; and friendly, attentive service. At the top of the harbor, Archie’s Lobster is true to its name; most of the lobster on the menu is hauled in on the family’s lobsterboat. Picnic tables stand right beside the water, there’s often live music, and it’s BYOB. Across the harbor in Bernard, Thurston’s Lobster Pound offers a traditional experience. Now operated by a fifth generation of the Thurston family, it’s grown from a small food operation at a lobster pound to a large and popular restaurant. Lobsters are sold by weight, and ordering is at the counter. All of these restaurants close in the off season.

Paddle and Hike

Just to the east of the lighthouse, the Ship Harbor Trail (Acadia National Park entrance pass required) is a little over a mile long. The family-friendly, figure-eight trail edges the water, rounds a rocky headland, and leads through spruce woods. It’s an excellent place for spotting loons, great blue herons, and other sea birds, as well as ospreys and eagles. The trail’s first loop has a hard-packed surface and is ADA compliant. On Great Gott Island, Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s 59-acre preserve is accessible by private boat only. Trails trace the shoreline and head inland. The shore is a lovely spot for a picnic while taking in Mount Desert Island’s panorama of peaks, just to the north. Acadia Outfitters, in Bar Harbor, offers half-day and longer sea-kayak rentals. They caution that the waters surrounding Mount Desert are best handled by experienced sea kayakers.