Northeast Harbor Fleet

South Shore Road, Northeast Harbor, Maine

Early Days

The Northeast Harbor Fleet was formed in 1923 to promote recreational boating and sailboat racing off the coast of Mount Desert Island. Prior to the construction of our Fleet House on Gilpatricks Cove in 1945, the office shown here served as our headquarters on Main Street in Northeast Harbor (now Pine Tree Market). The Fleet's burgie flies above the window displaying sailing trophies, which likely remain in our possession today.

(Image: Great Harbor Martime Museum)

100 Years Later

As our 100th anniversary approached, we looked back at the Fleet's long history and also ahead. The Fleet House had stood strong against the elements for more than 75 years. (Architect Roger Griswold's 1945 drawing of the structure is shown.) Since 1923, Northeast Harbor Fleet had accumulated a sizeable collection of objects and documents relating to the organization, and sailing more generally. Both the building and the collections, however, needed attention to ensure their long-term viability.

(Image: Northeast Harbor Fleet)

Taking Stock

The History Trust aided Northeast Harbor Fleet in looking to the future by cataloging items in the Fleet’s collections and creating records of those items in the online archive, beginning in late 2022.

Together, we inventoried and cataloged 250 historically relevant decorative and fine arts objects such as trophies, transcribed 14,500 words related to Fleet objects and documents such as annual reports, scanned approximately 500 photographs, created digital files and searchable online records, and began the transition to a web-based collections management system for the Fleet.

(Northeast Harbor Fleet)

A Climate of Change

The Fleet House is necessarily located on the shore, vulnerable to rising sea levels and coastal erosion. To ensure the longevity of the facility—and to preserve the much admired building—it was moved back from the shore 40 feet in 2025. At the same time the surrounding landscape and the Fleet's pier were also raised. Now, the Fleet House again holds items representing more than 100 years of boating history.

(Image: Northeast Harbor Fleet)

Go to Northeast Harbor Fleet online archive >>

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