Learn more in the Monhegan Community Profile here
Located approximately 10 miles from the fishing village of Port Clyde, Monhegan harbor is bordered by two islands; Monhegan and Manana. Three-quarters of the island of Monhegan is protected by a conservation easement. The clustered village connected by pathways is visited by thousands of tourists and artists each summer, who hike the high bluffs, deep forests and rocky shores to gain their own personal and artistic inspirations. Monhegan remains a vibrant year-round lobstering community. The island is surrounded with the Monhegan Lobster Conservation Zone, an area where only Monhegan fishermen can set traps, that was granted to the island by the state legislature. The legislature also granted Monhegan’s fishing fleet a special winter lobstering season in the 1930s.
While Monhegan is technically in Muscongus Bay, not Penobscot Bay, we have included it here because it is generally associated with the other islands in the Penobscot embayment.
Quick Facts
- Year-round population, 2010 U.S. Census: 69
- Summer population estimate: 250 (plus day-trippers)
- Acres: 513
- Mainland ferry terminal: Port Clyde
- Estimated distance between mainland and island ferry docks: 11 miles
- Ferry service: Monhegan Boat Line
- School: Monhegan Island School (K–8 one-room schoolhouse; high-school students go off-island)
- Form of town government: Plantation (within the Land Use Regulatory Commission)
