Matinicus Isle, Maine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 43°51′42″N 68°52′49″W / 43.86167, -68.88028
Matinicus Isle, Maine
Matinicus Isle, Maine Location within the state of Maine
Country	United States
State	Maine
County	Knox
Organized	1840
Area
- Total	106.5 sq mi (275.8 km²)
- Land	1.6 sq mi (4.1 km²)
- Water	104.9 sq mi (271.7 km²)
Elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	51
- Density	31.8/sq mi (12.3/km²)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Area code(s)	207
FIPS code	23-44165
GNIS feature ID	0582584

Matinicus Isle is a plantation in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 51 at the 2000 census, although during the summer that number can triple or quadruple. Remote Matinicus Island is accessible by ferry from Rockland, located 20 miles (30 km) away.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Weather
4 Demographics
5 Sites of interest
6 References
7 External links

[edit] History

Abenaki Indians called it Matinicus, meaning "far-out island." The French used it as an early fishing station. It was first settled in 1750 by a squatter, Ebenezer Hall, who had served as a lieutenant during the 1745 Battle of Louisburg. Accompanied by his family, he built a house and commenced farming, burning the land to produce better hay for his livestock. He also burned another island, infuriating the Penobscot Indians who hunted and fished in the area for their livelihood. At a trading post conference in 1752, Chief Colonel Louis said:

"...one Hall and family, who live at Matinicus, interrupt us in our killing seals, and in our fowling; they have no right to be there; the land is our own."

Twice the tribe wrote letters to Royal authorities in Boston complaining about Hall. In the second, delivered for forwarding on April 25, 1753 to Fort Richmond, they warned:

"...if you don't remove him in two months, we shall be obliged to do it ourselves."

Governor Spencer Phips ordered Hall and his family brought into custody at Boston to answer for ignoring his command to leave Matinicus. But nothing happened. The Penobscots waited not 2 months but a little over 4 years before taking action. On June 1, 1757, they laid siege to Hall's house, and on June 10, 1757, killed and scalped him. Hall is buried in the vicinity of the so-called "store well," with a bronze plaque bolted to a ledge as commemoration.

So began the island's 250 year aura of insularity and frontier violence. Residents developed a reputation for wanting to be left alone; outsiders and tourists were not welcome. It was not infrequent for visiting sailboats to be shot at, and the Maine State Police were under orders not to be on the island after dark. Several boating magazines listed Matinicus as a "hostile harbor," and locals openly referred to it as a "pirate island." The state gave up enforcing vehicle laws on Matinicus in the 1950s, so license plates (and brakes) are optional on the rusted vehicles that ply its unpaved roads. More recently, however, outsiders have purchased property and built summer cottages on the island, whose economy is now comfortable with the seasonal influx of tourist dollars. Only interference in local lobster fishing invites trouble.

Matinicus shares one of (if not the) richest lobstering grounds in the world with Vinalhaven, and it is not uncommon for either islands' lobster boat captains to have $2,000+ days in the mid-summer to fall. With so much at stake, territorial disputes can flare between fishermen. The Rockland Courier Gazette newspaper reports that all Matinicus fishermen now carry loaded rifles, and that on June 13, 2006, a fisherman fired two shots at another fisherman who attempted to run over his boat and then his son's boat. The Christian Science Monitor ran a two-part story:

The island has a strong Christian presence and is a routine stop for the Maine Seacoast Mission's vessel Sunbeam. It has one church, built in 1808, and all island residents are somewhat affiliated with it. This, and an unwritten law to assist anyone in trouble, prompts island fishermen to be first responders at all sorts of marine emergencies in outer Penobscot Bay. On January 16, 1992 the tugboat Harkness sank, and it was a lobster boat from Matinicus that went out and found the three crewmen. The rescue is featured in the March 1994 edition of Reader's Digest.

[edit] Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the plantation has a total area of 106.5 square miles (275.8 km²), of which, 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²) of it is land and 104.9 square miles (271.7 km²) of it (98.49%) is water. Matinicus Isle Plantation comprises 8 islands located on the fringes of Penobscot Bay in the Gulf of Maine, part of the Atlantic Ocean. Matinicus Island, the largest in the 8 island archipelago, is shaped like an oval approximately 2 miles (3 km) long by 1 mile (1.6 km) wide, containing about 800 acres (325 hectares). Matinicus Rock Light is about 5 miles east of Matinicus Island.

There are ten major fishing grounds around Matinicus Isle that the island's fishermen and other outer Penobscot Bay fishermen have used for centuries to capture such groundfish as cod, haddock, pollock and cusk.

[edit] Weather

Matinicus weather is unpredictable and often harsh. It is not uncommon for hurricane-force winds to blow for several days, and sometimes there is unabated fog from June to October. While recent weather has been mild, historical weather patterns indicate that weather can be extreme. Winter storms are the most destructive, the last one of significance being the Great Blizzard of 1978.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 51 people, 26 households, and 13 families residing in the plantation. The population density was 31.8 people per square mile (12.3/km²). There were 135 housing units at an average density of 84.3/sq mi (32.6/km²). The racial makeup of the plantation was 100.00% White.

There were 26 households out of which 15.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.8% were married couples living together, and 46.2% were non-families. 34.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.96 and the average family size was 2.57.

In the plantation the population was spread out with 15.7% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 21.6% from 25 to 44, 39.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 121.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 126.3 males.

The median income for a household in the plantation was $32,500, and the median income for a family was $41,250. Males had a median income of $40,000 versus $41,250 for females. The per capita income for the plantation was $15,537. There were no families and 11.8% of the population living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and 50.0% of those over 64.