This is one in a series of articles exploring the history of HHLT preserves. Little Ponds is the wild Maine blueberry of preserves. Its 22 acres in East Harpswell burst with goodness in the realms of nature; historical agriculture, fisheries, and industry; and literature. Yes, even literature. Several Great Island family names tie into the… Read more
One of a series of articles exploring the natural and human history of Harpswell Heritage Land Trust’s protected land. For a sweet morsel of a park with delicious tidbits of human and natural history, I recommend Houghton Graves Park on Orr’s Island. You can walk under boughs of ancient apple trees to a picnic table… Read more
One of a series of articles exploring the natural and human history of Harpswell Heritage Land Trust’s protected land. If you want an invigorating hike through a forest to a pristine water view of another forest preserve, get thee to the Long Reach Preserve. You’ll clamber up and over two ridges, quickly losing the hubbub… 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. Sitting around a table in the family home just up the hill from Houghton Graves Park on Orr’s Island, Allan and Patty Graves want to make one thing perfectly clear: “It’s… Read more
This is one in a series of articles about the author’s research into Harpswell Heritage Land Trust preserves and trails this year. What is this treasure? There’s a pie riding on it. For the most intriguing idea, I’ll bake you a pie. You should know that a cherry pie that I baked for another land… Read more
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