Islesford is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

located on

Little Cranberry Island Little Cranberry Island is an island of roughly located in the U.S. state of Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders ...

in Hancock County,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, United States. It is one of the five islands of the town of Cranberry Isles. It lies in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

southeast of

Mount Desert Island Mount Desert Island (MDI; ) in Hancock County, Maine, is the largest island off the coast of Maine. With an area of it is the List of islands of the United States by area, 52nd-largest island in the United States, the sixth-largest island in th ...

, which is the site of

Acadia National Park Acadia National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located along the mid-section of the Maine coast, southwest of Bar Harbor, Maine, Bar Harbor. The park includes about half of Mount Desert ...

. As of 2013, the year-round population was approximately sixty-five.

Access

Travelers can reach the island village via the Beal and Bunker

mail boat Mail boats or postal boats are a boat or ship used for the delivery of mail, and sometimes transportation of goods, people and vehicles, in communities where bodies of water commonly separate settlements, towns or cities, often where bridges ar ...

and ferry service that runs from the village of

Northeast Harbor Northeast Harbor is a village on Mount Desert Island, located in the town of Mount Desert in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The village has a significant summer population, and has long been a quiet enclave of the rich and famous. Su ...

in the town of

Mount Desert Mount Desert is a town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,146 at the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1789, the town currently encompasses the villages of Otter Creek, Seal Harbor, Northeast Harb ...

; the Cranberry Cove Boating ferry service from Southwest Harbor and Manset; and during the summer on various water taxis including 'Cadillac Water Taxi", and "Delight," both leaving from various harbors.

Culture

Little Cranberry Island hosts several seasonal cultural venues including the Islesford Dock Gallery and Restaurant, Islesford Pottery, Islesford Artists Fine Art Gallery, The Islesford Congregational Church, (housing the famed Sea Glass Windows by

Ashley Bryan Ashley Frederick Bryan (July 13, 1923February 4, 2022) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. Most of his subjects are from the African-American experience. He was a U.S. nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2 ...

), and the Islesford Historical Museum, which is part of Acadia National Park. In 1980, the museum was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Education

Islesford is home to the town's two-room public school, the Ashley Bryan School. The school was named in 2011 and is the first Maine public school to be named for a visual artist or for an African-American. As of 2017, the school had 14 students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade, with two full-time teachers. The Ashley Bryan School is one of six one and two-room island schools that make up the inter-island Outer Island Teaching and Learning Collaborative. This collaboration allows for remote live teaching and learning among schools and students on Matinicus Island,

Monhegan Island Monhegan () is an island in the Gulf of Maine. A plantation, a minor civil division in the state of Maine falling between unincorporated area and a town, it is located approximately off the mainland and is part of Lincoln County, Maine, United S ...

Isle au Haut Isle au Haut () is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States, on an island of the same name in Penobscot Bay. The population was 92 at the 2020 census. Home to portions of Acadia National Park, Isle au Haut is accessible by ferry from Stoning ...

Cliff Island Cliff Island is an island in Casco Bay, Maine, United States. It is part of the city of Portland. As of the 2000 census, the island had a year-round population of approximately 60 people. In the summer, the island's population grows to about ...

, Frenchboro, and The Ashley Bryan School in the Cranberry Islands.

Notable people

Following his retirement from his professorship of art at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

, illustrator and artist

retired to Islesford. The Ashley Bryan Center is located there. Folklorist

Mary Winslow Smyth Mary Winslow Smyth (1873 – 1937) was an American folklorist and folksong collector of the early 20th century. Smyth was born in Bangor, Maine on March 26, 1873. Her father was a doctor and her grandfather a professor at Bowdoin College. She was g ...

summered in Islesford, and used the town as her base for the fieldwork, which produced ''Minstrelsy of Maine: Folk-songs and Ballads of the Woods and the Coast'' and ''British Ballads from Maine''.

References

External links

Islesford town website

Ashley Bryan Center website

Ashley Bryan School website

{{authority control Villages in Maine Populated places in Hancock County, Maine