The town of Frenchboro encompasses twelve islands in Downeast Maine; only one, Long Island (formerly called Outer Long Island), currently has a year-round population. Until at least 1839, the Penobscot visited the island seasonally to fish and pick berries, keeping camps on the eastern shore of the harbor and on Yellow Head. There were several short–lived attempts to settle the island permanently in the early 1800s, and the first one to succeed was in 1822. Outer Long Island has been continuously inhabited ever since.

The village was named for a Tremont–based lawyer, E. Webster French, who helped to establish the island’s post office in the 1890s. The village has been called Frenchboro since then, but the official name of the settlement was Long Island Plantation until Frenchboro became incorporated as a town in 1979.

The town has nearly always maintained some form of school; the current school building stands just across the road from the library and teaches grades K–8 in one classroom.

Fishing of one kind or another has been the primary driving economic force throughout the town’s 200–year history. The main catch these days is lobster, but cod and herring have also been prominent in years past.

The town currently has a year–round population of around thirty residents, roughly doubling in the summer, and most year–round households have some connection to the lobster fishery. There are no stores on the island, and the dockside deli is open seasonally. The church has weekly services during the summer and holiday services in the winter. The island’s remoteness, while a challenge for every resident, is also one of the reasons many community members love living here.

If you would like to learn more about the island’s history, visit the historical society museum.

(source: Frenchboro Public Library and Historical Society)