Description: Cast iron ship's bell with partial detached yoke. The bell has a large crack and is covered with rust. The bell was retrieved by Harold Walls (1913-2000), a fisherman from Otter Creek, who retrieved it around 1958 or 59. Walls went fishing after a large storm, and found many buoys and lines tangled together. Instead of dealing with them at sea, he towed the tangle to Otter Creek to deal with it. This bell was found in the tangle. It is not clear how the bell ended up in the ocean and the exact location of the tangle is not now known. Temporary image [show more]
Description: Wooden box with lid and handle containing six glass milk bottles from Mt. Desert Island Dairy The box has a lid and lock, and is painted dark green. Writing on the outside appears to be stenciled in a pale yellow color. The interior is unpainted Writing on the lid reads: "Mt. Desert Island" and "Mt. Desert Island Dairy, Bar Harbor, Maine" is written on the front. The ends are labeled 6 QT. Six glass quart bottles are stored inside the box [show more]
Description: Sign advertising Island Lady Charters, a charter boat and water taxi business operated by Rhonda Lee Soucie of Seal Harbor, Maine The sign advertises suggested tours and offerings
Description: Wooden Lobster Buoy carved by Russell Lawson. The body of the buoy is a deep orange color and the handle is white. A rope loop extends from the end.
Description: Wooden Lobster Buoy, painted green and orange. The buoy is somewhat conical in shape, and has a hole through the center of it for a rope. The broader part (the top when floating in the water) is painted green, and the lower part is orange. Carving in the outer edge of the buoy reads: NEW 1400
Description: Lid from a wooden shipping box sent to F.E. Manchester, an electrician, in Northeast Harbor. The lid consists of four planks and two crosspieces. Written in back ink is information about the recipient: F.E. Manchester Northeast Harbor Maine Ex Paid - refers the the cost of express shipping being paid Stenciled text reads: Sunbeam - Tungsten Glass Handle-With-Care don't-Drop The crate likely contained a tungsten lamp or fixture. Affixed to the front of the crate are two paper labels. One reads is from American Express and contains the shipping cost that appears to be $.95 or $9.5 The other is from Earle and Prew's Express from Pawtucket R.I. [show more]
Description: Wooden sign for Pine Bough Antiques, an antiques and rare book shop operated by Rick and JoAnne Fuerst from 1976-2018. The store was located at 117 Main Street, Northeast Harbor. This sign hung off the front of the building and is therefore double sided. Looking at the two sides, green painted frame on one side is more weathered than the other. The two-sided sign has green lettering and a green frame, and pine bough is painted in the upper left corner. [show more]
Description: Wooden sign for Wikhegan Old Books, a rare book shop operated by Rick and JoAnne Fuerst from 1976-2018. The store was located at 117 Main Street, Northeast Harbor. This sign was removed from the building before the business closed, when books were sold from Pine Bough Antiques The sign is two sided and appears to have had a brown frame, which no longer survives. Brown paint appears beneath where the frame would have been.
Description: Cast iron stand, with wooden rod and spool of twine. This was used by David Stanley at Stanley's Fish Market, Northeast Harbor, to wrap fish for customers. The cast iron stand has raised letters reading CUTTER BOSTON on the inside of one leg. A spool of white twine accompanied this stand when it was given to the museum, but there was no longer any paper.
Description: Hand painted sign reading SEA FOOD. Sign is painted on Masonite (or a similar product) and has a white background and black letters. The front of the sign is scratched and shows signs of age. The sign came from Stanley's Fish Market, Northeast Harbor, operated by David L. Stanley. To see a photograph showing this sign or one like it, go to https://nehl.digitalarchive.us/items/show/5993
Description: Hand painted sign reading "LOBSTERS LIVE OR BOILED" Sign was used in the window of Stanley's Fish Market, Main Street, Northeast Harbor, operated by David L. Stanley. The sign consists of painted wood, with black letters on a white background. It is heavily abraded but still legible. There are visible screw holes on the front, with two vertical braces on the back. To see a photograph of this sign in the fish market go to: https://nehl.digitalarchive.us/items/show/6266 [show more]
Description: Photograph taken from the area of the Samuel Gilpatrick Homestead looking toward the Rock End Hotel, near Gilpatrick Cove Northeast Harbor. In the foreground is Herman Savage's cottage, "The Wedge," designed by his architect brother, Fred L. Savage, in 1885. Two children stand on the side of the road, and an unidentified structure is visible beyond the hotel. In the distance, the northern shores of Great Cranberry Island can be seen. The Rock End Hotel was originally called the Revere House and was opened by Herman L. Savage in the summer of 1884. The Wedge was built by A. Torrey, a contractor from Southwest Harbor, in the winter of 1885-1886. The Rock End Hotel burned in March, 1942. The Wedge was purchased by the Roberts family and remodeled in 1944-45, following plans by Philadelphia architect Edmund Gilchrist. It remains a private residence today. [show more]
Description: Glass negative taken at Mount Desert Rock, September 1907. View depicts a Friendship sloop, identified as belonging to Captain Van Norden, towing two smaller boats. Negative envelope reads: Mt. Desert Lt. Sta. Sept. 1907 No. 1 Capt. Van Norden's Boat
Description: Glass negative taken at Mount Desert Rock, August 1908. View shows at least four boats not far from shore fishing. To the far left is a two-masted schooner and in the center is a Friendship sloop. In front of the sloop, and to the right, are at least two smaller boats. Negative envelope reads: Mt. Desert Lt. Sta. Aug. 1908 Capt. John Robinson seining
Description: Collection of five documents, largely connected with the Clark family of Southwest Harbor. Copy of a charter document, dated 1864, between Nathan Clark and William Underwood, to charter the Schooner Loochoo. Letter from Railway Express Agency, August 16, 1946, to R.P. Clark thanking him for his long service. Letter from Maine Central Railroad, January 29, 1911, to R.P. Clark discussing the terms of his employment as express agent. Telegraph Blank (jokingly?) written for Grace Carroll from the Associated Press, August 6, 1903, warning her of hostile warships in Somes Sound. Receipt for goods purchased by Nathan Clark of Eaton & Lane, Boston, August 15, 1865. Goods include: flour, sugar, rum, good whiskey, butter, ticking, matches [show more]
Description: 6 modern reproduction photographs showing Main Street, Northeast Harbor, circa 1935. Four views show the Municipal Building/Firehouse, and three show fire engines parked in front of the building, including the 1927 American LaFrance Ladder Truck "William S. Grant." Another photograph shows buses parked to the south of the municipal building, belong to Maine Transportation (?), a subsidiary of the Maine Central Railroad Company. Another photograph shows two buses belonging to the Boston & Maine Transportation Company parked behind Manchester Bros. Garage. Another photograph shows the steamer J.T. Morse landing at the steamboat wharf in Northeast Harbor [show more]
Description: Photograph of painting signed MBG July 1938 showing the proposed redevelopment of the Sea Street area in Northeast Harbor as planned by Griswold & Gulick, architects of Boston. This proposal was ultimately unrealized, though the Sea Street dock area was redeveloped in the 1950s.
Description: Account book kept by W.S. Brown, master of the schooner J.S. Butler, and other vessels. Includes references to cargoes carried, ports visited, and men employed on the schooner. Also includes records of expenditures, mostly for food, but some references to items like knives. Brown may be William Sheldon Brown but additional research is needed. The book may have been used at an earlier time, as several pages have be ripped out, and Brown's name is found in pencil with the date of 1880 near the beginning [show more]
Description: Glass negative taken at Mount Desert Rock showing a large rock sitting on top of ledges with ocean beyond. Negative envelope reads: Mt. Desert Lt. Sta. Nov. 1907 Lucy M. Dodge No. 2 Rock broken in two East of Boat House. Developed with Dianol.
Description: View taken from Mount Desert Rock of the two-masters fishing schooner Marion Turner, as labeled on the envelope. The Marion Turner is towing a rowboat. In the foreground the ledges of Mount Desert Rock are visible. According to the envelope, the photograph was taken April 22, but year is not given. Likely taken between 1907-1909. Notes at the bottom of the negative envelope appear to refer to the development of the negative: Devel. S.R. plate Pancro. in Devel. 300 count (?) [show more]
Description: Two fire engines parked in front of the Municipal Building, Northeast Harbor. A bus is parked the left of the Municipal Building, parked closer to Manchester Brothers' Garage. The truck on the left may be the Northeast Harbor Fire Company's 1926 Maxim Pumper, while that on the right is the ladder truck W.S. Grant, a 1927 American La France. This photograph was taken following the remodeling of the the Municipal Building, which was completed in 1934. [show more]
Description: Carlton Taylor standing in front of the Municipal Building, Northeast Harbor, with the vehicles of the Northeast Harbor Fire Company lined up.
Description: Two sailing vessels and a rowboat seining shad off Mount Desert Rock, August 1907. To the left, the two masted schooner is Capt. Robinson, while the Friendship sloop to the right is Capt. Van Norden, who appears with his boat in other photographs. The smaller boat in front of Capt. Van Norden is identified as Willard K. Osier This negative is damaged across the center. Written on the negative envelope is "Capt. Robinson and Capt. Van Norden Seining Shad. Small boat Willard K. Osier. [show more]