The beauty of Harpswell encompasses far more than its natural scenery, its views of ocean and sounds, woodlands, and farmlands (all top-notch). Its historic architecture is also eye-catching and distinguished. Harpswell Heritage Land Trust (HHLT) plays a role in preserving five of Harpswell’s splendid old buildings. That’s unusual for a land trust, which typically… Read more
One of a series of articles exploring the natural and human history of Harpswell Heritage Land Trust’s protected land. The closest you’ll find to a high-rise at Potts Point Preserve is a cairn, and it will founder in the next storm. The closest you’ll find to high density housing there are pockets of single-family shells…. Read more
Go to Little Yarmouth Island Preserve. You can paddle there easily after putting in at the Bethel Point boat ramp near Cundy’s Harbor. Crossing to Yarmouth Island is quick, and once you duck between Yarmouth Island and Little Yarmouth, you are in a world of your own. It’s the world of color that you’d… Read more
Probably to my own betterment, Otter Brook Preserve has taken me into a world I’ve been skeptical about–the world of bird songs. I’ve scoffed at the possibility of identifying a bird by its song because I doubted my ability to do such a thing. My foray into this seemingly hostile territory (“hostile” for someone… Read more
One of a series of articles exploring the natural and human history of Harpswell Heritage Land Trust’s protected land. What comes to mind when you think of the Giant’s Stairs? A “stern and rockbound coast”? That’s a catchphrase used by P.G. Wodehouse about Bertie Wooster: “[He] once got engaged to… Honoria, a ghastly dynamic exhibit… Read more
One of a series of articles exploring the natural and human history of Harpswell Heritage Land Trust’s protected land. Stover’s Point Preserve makes me long for a picnic on the beach (even in February, when we first visited). Picnic weather is a matter of time and patience. Many of us recall family picnics in special… Read more
One of a series of articles exploring the natural and human history of Harpswell Heritage Land Trust’s protected land. A walk in the woods, to borrow Bill Bryson’s title, describes the Hackett and Minot trails. Except that for me, my first visit was a snowshoe in the woods. Blue sky, fresh snow, and only one… Read more
Harpswell volunteers who saved Skolfield Shores Preserve from development in 2002 saved a 148 million year legacy. One of Maine’s largest populations of Atlantic horseshoe crabs feed and reproduce on the tidal mudflats of the Preserve, as their close cousins have done in similar settings since the Jurassic. Paleontologists in 2014 discovered new fossils… Read more
One of a series of articles exploring the natural and human history of Harpswell Heritage Land Trust’s protected land. When we began walking Flossie, our newly adopted dog, on Harpswell Heritage Land Trust’s (HHLT) Curtis Farm Preserve, I wondered who the Curtises were and what they grew. By diving into public records online, I now… Read more
One in a series of profiles of people who played a key role in the first 35 years of the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust. Despite the underlying rocky ledges and the relatively thin layer of topsoil found throughout the town, roots run deep in Harpswell. For example, Harpswell Heritage Land Trust (HHLT) grew out of… Read more