Photos by Mimi Bigelow Steadman
With no town center, Northport often goes unnoticed by drivers passing through on Route 1. But last August, we decided to get off the main drag and take a meander through this Midcoast town, wedged like a slice of pizza between Lincolnville and Belfast.
First, we turned onto Beech Hill Road, following it up through fields, blueberry barrens, and stands of skinny trees. We passed a big, fancy house under construction, but most of the homes we saw appeared to belong to average, hardworking Mainers. As we headed back down Beech Hill toward Route 1, we were treated to a perk that residents enjoy every day: a sweeping view of Penobscot Bay and its islands.
After driving east on Route 1 for a few miles, we exited onto Cross Street, which led to Bayside Road. Soon, we arrived in Bayside Village, a sweet little neighborhood of diminutive, gingerbread-trimmed houses squeezed side-by-side on handkerchief-sized lots. It’s always a treat to enter this charming hamlet. People strolled through the irregular grid of narrow, shady streets, stopping to chat with neighbors relaxing on their porches.
At the center of the community, we came to grassy Ruggles Park, which slopes to an open harbor, filled on that sunny afternoon with small sailboats bobbing on their moorings. I was especially smitten with a lineup of nearly identical, peak-roofed cottages marching up the eastern edge of the park.
It felt as though we’d stumbled upon an earlier, simpler time. Indeed, it was a different time when, in 1848, Methodists from throughout Maine established the Northport Wesleyan Grove Camp Meeting here. As the years passed, congregants at this annual summertime religious convocation replaced their original tents with more permanent, but still pint-sized, dwellings. By the turn of the 20th century, the quaint enclave had transitioned to a secular summer colony named Bayside. Steamships called at the wharf beside Ruggles Park, depositing vacationers eager for a sojourn in the peaceful village.
Today, the 28-acre Bayside National Historic District encompasses more than 150 tiny antique houses. Many bear signboards announcing the Maine location from which the original owners came, such as Rockport, Orono, South Thomaston, and Bangor.
Over the 15 years that Ian Bruce has lived here, the boatbuilder and artist has seen a marked increase in year-round residents. He recalled the effect of one article in The New York Times: In just one week, four cottages were being jacked up so cellars could be dug beneath them in an effort by new owners to winterize them.
“It’s still quiet in the winter, though,” he said. “Some year-rounders prefer it then. I enjoy the summertime, with a bicycle brigade of youngsters wheeling around, and people walking by with glasses of wine or carrying casseroles to gatherings.”
In addition to neighborhood get-togethers, Bayside’s summer calendar is filled with events at the Community Hall and elsewhere, including dances, lectures, musical performances, and exhibitions. “One afternoon, a friend and I heard singing,” Bruce said. “We took our folding chairs to Ruggles Park and found that an opera singer was performing.”
A few miles west along the coast from Bayside, we came to a second collection of small, Victorian-era cottages, this one clinging to the side of a steep hill. Since its founding in 1879, Temple Heights Spiritual Camp has drawn healers, mediums, spiritualists, and others interested in communicating with the dead. One of the world’s oldest continuously operating spiritualist camps, the organization hosts workshops, message circles, private readings, spiritual healings, table-tipping sessions, and church services throughout the summer. The services are open to visitors, and anyone can sign up for the other offerings. I’m intrigued.
Just inland from Temple Heights and Bayside, we stopped at a pair of stone pillars flanking a driveway leading to Oak Hall—at 20,000 square feet, Maine’s largest single-family residence and a staggering contrast to the petite cottages nearby. I scanned the colonnaded porticos of the Colonial Revival redbrick façade and tried to picture the grand staircase, two-story-tall Aeolian organ, and nearly 50 elegantly furnished rooms inside. They include living, sitting, music, and dining rooms; two solariums; 11 bedrooms; and 12 bathrooms.
Still a private home, Oak Hall was built between 1912 and 1914 as a summer mansion for Chicago investment banker Ira M. Cobe. I wondered why he’d chosen this location instead of Bar Harbor or another of Maine’s monied summer colonies. It turns out his wife, Anne, was a native of Belfast and wanted to be near her family.
Mulling over the importance of such bonds with others brought to mind something I’d been told by longtime Northport resident Judy Berk: “We don’t have a town center. We bump into friends at the dump,” the photographer and environmental steward had said with a laugh. “We have a give-and-take table at the town hall. When somebody needs something, we’re all there for them. It crosses any political lines.”
Motorists speeding through Northport on Route 1 don’t see those ties that bind. But no doubt these caring connections are what weaves the town together—from homesteads on upland farmland to clusters of cottages by the sea, from modest dwellings to a grand mansion or two.
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Contributing editor Mimi Bigelow Steadman lives on the Damariscotta River in Edgecomb.
If You Go to Northport
On the Water
A small indentation on a stretch of bold shore, Bayside harbor offers more protection than you might expect. A few transient rental moorings are available (contact Harbormaster Scott Monroe at 207-323-4565) and there is also space for a few transient vessels to drop anchor. Depending on their size, dinghies may be tied up at the wharf, though there are restrictions on length of stay. Boats may also be launched at Ruggles Park Beach. Membership in the Northport Yacht Club, headquartered at the wharf in Ruggles Park, is open to all, with no initiation fee and very modest annual fees. The club maintains a very active sailing school for kids, hosts a number of social gatherings, and sponsors races throughout the summer, including a round-Islesboro race in early September.
Do
Bayside’s past is full of intriguing tidbits. For example, it was written in the Belfast Republican Journal in 1871 that underbrush would be “cleared away so that the hitherto hidden recesses where the wicked and perverse have assembled, will be under better supervision—thus pushing Satan’s skirmish line further away.” Uncover more stories at the Bayside Historical Preservation Society’s Bayside Cottage Museum, tucked into a little house named Shady Grove that dates from the 1880s. It’s open on Sunday afternoons, June through August. Check out Bayside Arts’ calendar of summer events held at the Community Hall and elsewhere in the village. Part of Bayside, the Northport Golf Club’s nine-hole course is open to the public. Everyone is welcome to attend Temple Heights’ spiritualist church services, held on Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings in season; they’re followed by a potluck meal. The fee for workshops and classes is $35. Other sessions range from $20 to $100. For those who wish to stay longer in the community, rustic rooms may be booked in century-old Nikawa Lodge. While Oak Hall is a private mansion, tours can be arranged in advance by visiting oakhallestate.org.
Eat
Open seasonally and highly regarded, The Hoot serves internationally inspired breakfast, brunch, and dinner dishes made with locally sourced ingredients. At Margaret’s, you can enjoy an abundantly filled lobster roll or fried seafood with a side of antiques—be sure to browse all the treasures for sale inside. Top off your visit to this popular roadside spot with a hot fudge sundae or root-beer float. The Bayside Store dishes up subs, pizzas, burgers, freshly made soup, prepared entrees, and a good selection of beer and wine. At The Scone Goddess, you’ll find flaky scones fresh from the oven, plus scone mixes to make at home. Satisfy your craving for good bagels at the cupola-topped cottage where Spark Bagel turns out sourdough bagels in a variety of flavors, as well as bagel sandwiches.
Paddle and Hike
Stop at Maine Outdoor Sportsman on Route 1 to rent kayaks, canoes, and paddleboards by the day or week. The store’s extensive inventory includes gear and apparel for a variety of outdoor pursuits such as camping, hunting, and fishing. The store also has an outdoor shooting range and archery course, plus an indoor archery range. Coastal Mountains Land Trust oversees a number of properties in Northport, including the McLellan-Poor Preserve, whose 66 acres of dense forest and field are laced with several easy trails; and the 230-acre Newman and Breslin Preserve, whose 1.1-mile hillside trail meanders down to Pitcher Pond. CMLT’s Saint Clair Preserve offers an easy, short (0.15 mile) trail to a hidden pond that’s ideal for birding and fishing. Also overseen by CMLT, the 73-acre Mount Percival Preserve has a moderately challenging trail that climbs to the summit and the remains of an early rusticator’s shingled tower, which once provided views of the bay.
