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North Haven is a venerable upper class enclave, summer colony and island in Penobscot Bay, Maine, United States. The island is part of Knox County and lies roughly 12 miles offshore. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 381; during the summer months, the population swells into the thousands with visitors and second-home owners. Though the island is a popular destination, it provides few tourist amenities -- one inn, two grocery stores, and two gift shops -- and is instead geared toward those who have vacation homes on the island. The island is accessed by three-times daily ferry service from Rockland, Maine, provided by the Maine State Ferry Service. North Haven is unique among Maine island communities for offering a K-12 school (Maine's smallest), whereas most islands only have elementary schools and tuition their high school students to high schools on the mainland.
Summer Colony
North Haven is best known for its sizable summer community of prominent Northeasterners, mostly from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, who have been coming to the island for nearly a century for its simple way of life. The adjacent, south side of the Fox Island Thoroughfare, which separates North Haven from Vinalhaven is often informally considered part of North Haven, since Vinalhaven's north shore is nearly a dozen miles from that community's town center.
Notable Inhabitants:
- Angela Adams, American rug and housewares designer
- Frank Weston Benson, American Impressionist artist
- Elizabeth Bishop, American poet
- Jonathan Bush, brother of president George H.W. Bush and father of Billy Bush
- Pierre S. du Pont, IV, former governor of Delaware and 1988 Republican candidate for president
- Paul C Cabot, Noted Boton banker; formed one of the first mutual investment companies State Street Investments
- Henry N. Cobb, architect; Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
- Gardner Cox, American portraitist
- J. Christopher Flowers, principal, JC Flowers & Co., and largest shareholder of Shinsei Bank
- Bruce Gelb, former president of Clairol, former vice chairman of Bristol Myers Squibb and former U.S. Ambassador to Belgium
- Eric Hopkins, Noted artist
- Ned Lamont, candidate for U.S. Senate from Connecticut
- Thomas Lamont, partner of J.P. Morgan
- John D. Macomber, former head of the Export-Import Bank of the United States
- Robert Montgomery, actor
- Dwight Morrow, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico and father-in-law of Charles Lindbergh
- Chellie Pingree, President and CEO of Common Cause is a full-time resident.
- Hannah Pingree, Representative of Maine's 36th district was born and raised in North Haven.
- Nicholas Platt, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, the Philippines, and Zambia
- Oliver Platt, actor
- The descendants of Charles Pratt, founder of Pratt Institute and principal of Charles Pratt and Company, a forerunner to Standard Oil
- Thomas J. Watson, Jr., CEO of IBM and son of its founder, Thomas J. Watson
North Haven Dinghy
In 1885 William Weld challenged the yachtsmen of North Haven, Maine to a race. He used the tender from his yacht "Gitana" and unsuccessfully raced against a variety of sprit-sailed boats.That winter he went home and had a better dinghy designed and built in Salem, Mass. The next year he beat all contenders. The boat was hauled out at North Haven, and two copies were made by Henry Calderwood. The subsequent race was between Mrs. Cobb, Miss Spencer and Miss Hayward. The first boats had a sprit rigs, but this soon gave way to gaff rigs. In 1888 James Ossie Brown built four more dinghies. This was at the beginning of J. O. Brown & Sons boatyard. The fleet grew over the years and racing continued. They are still raced out of North Haven and Dark Harbor making them the oldest continually raced class in the United States. (http://www.worldvoyagers.com/boatbuilder/nhtmb.htm)
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 213.6 km² (82.5 mi²). 30.1 km² (11.6 mi²) of it is land and 183.5 km² (70.8 mi²) of it (85.89%) is water. At its widest points, it is roughly 12 miles long and 3 miles wide.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 381 people, 162 households, and 109 families residing in the town. The population density was 12.6/km² (32.7/mi²). There were 488 housing units at an average density of 16.2/km² (41.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.28% White, 1.05% African American, 3.15% from other races, and 0.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.36% of the population.
There were 162 households out of which 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.4% were married couples living together, 4.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the town the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 27.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 103.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.7 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $40,446, and the median income for a family was $42,361. Males had a median income of $31,071 versus $16,000 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,112. About 4.4% of families and 7.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.8% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.
External links
"North Haven, Maine"