Vinalhaven, Maine

Vinalhaven, Maine
—  Town  —
Main Street c. 1915
Vinalhaven, Maine Location within the state of Maine
Coordinates: 44°3′31″N 68°51′4″W
Country	United States
State	Maine
County	Knox
Incorporated	1789
Area
• Total	192.8 sq mi (499.3 km2)
• Land	25.3 sq mi (65.6 km2)
• Water	167.5 sq mi (433.7 km2)
Elevation	39 ft (12 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	1,235
• Density	48.8/sq mi (18.8/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	04863
Area code(s)	207
FIPS code	23-79130
GNIS feature ID	0582782

Vinalhaven is a town located in the Fox Islands in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,235 at the 2000 census. It is home to a thriving lobster fishery and hosts a summer colony. Since there is no bridge to the island, Vinalhaven is accessible from Rockland via an approximately hour-and-fifteen-minute ferry ride across West Penobscot Bay, or by air taxi from Knox County Regional Airport.

History

Archeological remains indicate that the island was first inhabited 3800–5000 years ago by the Red Paint People. Later, it became Abenaki territory. Europeans visited in the 16th century, and English Capt. Martin Pring named the archipelago Fox Islands in 1603. The first permanent English settlement occurred in 1766 when Thaddeus Carver from Marshfield, Massachusetts, arrived, and later purchased 700 acres (2.8 km²) on the southern shore near what would become known as Carver's Harbor.

Others soon followed to establish the remote fishing community in the Gulf of Maine. The first families of Vinalhaven are considered to be Arey, Calderwood, Carver, Coombs, Dyer, Ginn, Greem, Hopkins, Lane, Leadbetter, Norton, Philbrook, Pierce, Robert, Smith, Warren and Vinal. On June 25, 1789, Vinalhaven was incorporated as a town, named for John Vinal. In 1847, the North Island was set off as North Haven.

A stone manufactory c. 1880

High quality granite was discovered in 1826, and Vinalhaven became one of Maine's largest quarrying centers for the next century. Today the island is dotted with abandoned old quarries, many of which have since filled with groundwater and are popular swimming holes for residents and visitors alike. Pinkish-gray Vinalhaven granite, excavated by the Bodwell Granite Company, can be seen in the State Department Building in Washington, New York City's Brooklyn Bridge, and the Union Mutual Life Insurance Building in Boston.

Granite was shipped for customs houses and post offices in New York; St. Louis; Kansas City; Buffalo, etc.; the railroad station and the Board of Trade in Chicago; the Washington Monument and federal office buildings in the Capital; foundation stone and the eight huge polished columns for the nave of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City; the Pennsylvania Railroad Station and the Masonic Temple in Philadelphia; as well as private mansions, monuments, bridges, dams, and thousands of tons of paving blocks for the streets of Portland; Boston; New York; Newark; Philadelphia and other cities.

A noted lobster fishing community, Vinalhaven has fishing rights to much of Penobscot Bay and its offshore waters, lobstermen have been known for aggressive fishing practices. There are ten major fishing grounds around Vinalhaven that the island's fishermen and some Matinicus Isle fishermen have used for centuries to capture such groundfish as cod, haddock, pollock, hake, lobster scallops and halibut. Shrimp, dogfish, mackerel and herring are also abundant in the waters around Vinalhaven. Like neighboring North Haven Island, Vinalhaven is well-known for its summer community of wealthy Northeasterners, mostly from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. The movie The Islander was filmed on Vinalhaven and some of the locals acted in the movie.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,235 people, 550 households, and 341 families residing in the town. The population density was 48.8 people per square mile (18.8/km²). There were 1,228 housing units at an average density of 48.5 per square mile (18.7/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.14% White, 0.32% Native American, 0.32% Asian, and 1.21% from two or more races.

A residence c. 1880

There were 550 households, out of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.6% were married couples living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.0% were non-families. 32.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.82. Lobstering is a considerable part of the island's economy. Almost everyone lobsters.

In the town the population was spread out with 23.7% under the age of 18; 6.4% from 18 to 24; 27.8% from 25 to 44; 23.6% from 45 to 64; and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40. For every 100 females, there were 92.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $34,087, and the median income for a family was $42,917. Males had a median income of $36,094 versus $17,750 for females. The per capita income for the town was $21,287. About 5.7% of families and 9.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.1% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.

Energy

Vinalhaven is the site of one of the first large wind power projects on the east coast of the United States. Approved by a vote of 383–5 on July 29, 2008, by members of the Fox Islands Electric Cooperative, the project is expected to significantly reduce rates on the island residents, who previously imported their power from the mainland via a submarine power cable. Three 1.5 MW wind turbine towers, which went online in late 2009, are likely to produce a comparable amount of energy to what the island uses.

Near the end of 2009, an Island Energy Task Force was established in order to "facilitate a transition to affordable, reliable, domestically produced energy, and on the consumer end, to energy-smart products, with special emphasis on serving the Vinalhaven community."

Starting in the spring of 2010, the task force began spearheading a project to use some of the Fox Islands wind energy to charge electric thermal storage heaters installed on the island. The charging takes place when the project's three turbines are generating more power than the islands need, which is common in the winter.

Education

• Vinalhaven High School is the town's k-12 public school.
• The ARC is Vinalhaven's nonprofit hands-on vocational learning center.

Monolithic columns quarried for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, installation completed in 1904

Vinalhaven from Lane's Island in 1905

East side in 1905

Sites of interest

• Brown's Head Light
• Heron Neck Light
• Lane's Island
• Saddleback Ledge Light
• Vinalhaven Historical Society & Museum

Properties in Vinalhaven listed on the National Register of Historic Places include: Browns Head Light, Heron Neck Light, Murch Family House, Pleasant River Grange No. 492, Saddleback Ledge Light, Star of Hope Lodge, Union Church of Vinalhaven, Vinalhaven Public Library and the Moses Webster House.

Notable people

• Margaret Wise Brown, children's book author
• Caitlin Cahow, professional hockey player
• Joseph P. Dyer, politician
• John C. Harkness, architect
• Leonard Hokanson, concert pianist
• Robert Indiana, American artist associated with the Pop Culture Movement
• John Jay Iselin, administrator, educator^{[citation needed]}
• Philip Jamison, artist
• Brewster Jennings, industrialist^{[citation needed]}
• Bill Murray, professional baseball player
• Leverett Saltonstall, 55th governor of Massachusetts
• Ketch Secor, musician with the Old Crow Medicine Show^{[citation needed]}
• John Wulp, scenic designer, producer, director

See also

• List of islands of Maine

References

Notes

External links

• Town of Vinalhaven, Maine
• Vinalhaven Public Library
• Vinalhaven School
• Vinalhaven Chamber Of Commerce
• Vinalhaven, Maine, stone quarry info. on Stone Quarries and Beyond
• Monuments of Stone, Testaments to an Island -- The New York Times
• Maine Genealogy: Vinalhaven, Knox County, Maine