THE CRANBERRIES are beautiful and peaceful islands, with miles of walks and spectacular views of sea and mountains. Named for their extensive cranberry bogs and known for their mosquitoes, the islands undertook a program of drainage in the 1920s. As islander Wilfred Bunker says, “The mosquitoes came back, but the cranberries didn’t.”
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The Cranberry Islands are in transition. After two centuries of a fishing economy, their small population now includes more summer people than fishermen. Of the five islands considered part of the Cranberries, the two closest to the mainland, Bear and Sutton, are now private. Baker Island is uninhabited, and half of it belongs to Acadia National Park. Only Great and Little Cranberry still have the schools, post offices, and stores that make them viable year-round communities. About 55 families live on Great Cranberry year round and fewer on Little Cranberry.
COPYRIGHT 2006 DIAMOND PASS PUBLISHING
Private ferry service connects the Cranberries to Northeast Harbor and, more recently, to Southwest Harbor, taking islanders to the mainland for modern necessities and taking tourists to the islands for simple pleasures.
From A Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast