Photos reveal Machias history

IMAGES OF AMERICA: THE MACHIAS BAY REGION, by Jim and Jane Harnedy, Arcadia Publishing, 2001, 128 pages, $18.99.

Jim and Jane Harnedy of Bucks Harbor have a regional best seller on their hands. Since their collection of vintage black-and-white photographs went on sale earlier this year, they report it’s outselling all other local titles in their part of Washington County.

That’s a tribute to the care with which the Harnedys collected and organized the book’s 214 images – blueberry pickers and river drivers are highlighted – and to Arcadia Publishing, which included the nation’s easternmost county in its Images of America series because of its delectable history and the authors’ solid reputations. (Jim Harnedy compiled two other Images of America series books on Maine, and together with his wife, Jane, penned this year’s “A Handy Guide for Eucharistic Ministers.”)

Chapter One, “A Tour of the Region,” guides the reader through Machias, the county seat that was settled in 1763 by “fire-ravaged Scarborough residents who were drawn to this coastal outpost by timber and salt marsh hay;” south to Machiasport, which includes Larrabee, Bucks Harbor and Starboard; on to Jonesboro, Roque Bluffs, Marshfield and Whitneyville to the west; and eastward to East Machias, Whiting and Cutler.

Toward the end of the 11-chapter book are the sections “The Holiday Season” and “Winter Down East,” sure to interest many receiving the book as gifts this December. Pictured are a crew of men in Whiting shoveling a roadway in 1940, and a lovely nighttime view of downtown Machias in the 1960s. The 1836 Centre Street Congregational Church, which houses a Paul Revere bell in its illuminated steeple, dominates the latter photograph.

Also shown is a 1948 shipment of Christmas trees en route to service families in San Juan, Trinidad; Julie Gay Barker making a wreath at her family’s business; and an intriguing shot of Richard Hayward “tipping” a balsam fir tree to make holiday decorations. The photo captions are typically brief – perhaps some should have been fleshed out – but the information is solid, and often educational. Did you know, for example, that freezing nights are needed so that the tree sap will slow, allowing the fir needles to form a strong bond to the branches?

Black and white photography has a timelessness that color lacks. For that reason, the Harnedys were able to mix old and newer images, sometimes on the same page. The family portraits, football-team photos and those of clam rakers are all about people, and less about when, exactly, they were taken.

Readers, though, will often sense the age of the photograph before reading the caption, often by seeing the manner of dress and overall picture quality. The snapshot of Irene and Duke Quinn, of Bucks Harbor, taken in 1949, is obviously vintage, because of her 1940s-style winter coat, complete with shiny buttons, and his high woolen cap. The same is true of canning company pioneer Willard Look, sporting a broad-brimmed hat, wide lapels and striped tie.

Landmarks are sprinkled throughout the book. The old Helen’s Restaurant in Machias is pictured, with founders Helen and Lawrence Mugnai standing in front during the town’s 1963 bicentennial celebration. Also shown is Jonesboro’s original White House Restaurant, long a Route 1 favorite.

The historic Burnham Tavern is the oldest building east of the Penobscot River, and the only building in eastern Maine with a direct link to the Revolutionary War. The Machias museum, operated by the Hannah Weston Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, housed wounded soldiers during the Revolutionary War. The book pays tribute to the heroes of the Down East “Lexington of the Sea,” in which Machias patriots captured the British armed vessel the Margaretta on June 12, 1775. Col. Jeremiah O’Brien led the local group; Capt. Moore of the Margaretta was killed in the brief engagement.

The authors’ next book in Arcadia’s Images of Canada series will showcase pictures of Campobello Island, New Brunswick. No doubt they’ll once again unearth many colorful stories behind the black and white photographs.

Editor’s note: Dick Shaw is the author of five Maine books in the Images of America series. Jim and Jane Harnedy will sign copies of “The Machias Bay Region” from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8 at Borders Books and Music in Bangor.