IN 1899, Charles W. Eliot, then the president of Harvard, wrote a well-known history about pioneer life on Baker Island, John Gilley of Baker’s Island. He related the story of William Gilley and his wife, Hannah, who arrived in 1806 on Baker Island, the most remote of the Cranberries. “There it lay in the sea, unoccupied and unclaimed,” wrote Eliot, “and they simply took possession of it.”
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Not much has changed since then. Today, half of Baker Island is privately owned, the other half is a part of Acadia National Park, and a lighthouse is in the middle. Sightseeing boats come to Baker Island from Northeast Harbor with a park ranger aboard, or you can make a daystop here.
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A sign in the park portion of the island summarizes Eliot’s history of the Gilleys: “William and Hannah Gilley raised 12 children to maturity. Forest and sea shaped their world; farming, fishing and hunting sustained them. They worked hard. Calloused hands wielded an ax, guided a plow, trimmed a sail, treadled a spinningwheel, or held a child. To their skilled labor, the land produced vegetables, forage for stock and a little wheat. They caught herring and mackerel and picked up lobsters in the shallows. Like us they knew joy and sorrow, labor and rest, adversity and success.”
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Approaches. Harbor chart. As shown on chart 13318 or Chart Kit 74, a line of cans and a whistle guard the eastern shores of Little Cranberry and Baker Island. Run outside this line until you reach can “3,” at Baker Island. Coast along the north shore of Baker toward the bight in the ledge south of Gravel Nobble.
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Anchorages, moorings. Anchor off the north shore of Baker, in 10 to 17 feet at low.
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Getting ashore. Row in to the rock beach where the path hits the shore, as shown on the chart.
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Things to do. Walk right along the beach to where the path leads through a thick growth of beach roses, then follow it through a beautiful field past an old island cape and another red house. Just before the lighthouse, the path makes a sharp right through the woods and leads to the storm beach and “Dance Hall Floor,” an aptly named spot. Cranberry Islanders used to bring food, spirits, and windup Victrolas and while away time on these stunning flat ledges.
From A Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast