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Sun + Fog + Church in Islesford, MainePhoto: H.L.I.T. · CC BY 2.0
–Not graded
History · Cranberry Isles

Cranberry Isles’ post office opened in 1847, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 7 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1983 on, and the census since 1830.

1847first post office
3on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cranberry Isles’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cranberry Isles began

When was Cranberry Isles founded?

1847

The Cranberry Isles post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 258 in 18302020 census: 160179 years
Founding year: the first Cranberry Isles post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Cranberry Isles’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Cranberry Isles’ homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 410 in 1920; 160 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1847: 179 years of Cranberry Isles.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cranberry Isles’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cranberry Isles’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewWarren Mount Desert from Cranberry Isla…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Cranberry Isles, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cranberry Isles yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Cranberry Isles is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 160 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1847. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 141 to 160 (+13%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

People over time

Cranberry Isles, census by census

01002003004001850190019502000Peak: 410

Peaked at 410 in 1920; 160 people lived here in 2020.

20 censuses, 1830–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cranberry Isles’ Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Cranberry Isles, 1828 to 1983

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828BuiltBaker Island Light Station is built
  3. 1833Born hereAndrew Barclay Spurling is born here
  4. 1839BuiltBear Island Light Station is built
  5. 1847Post officeThe Cranberry Isles post office opens
  6. 1884Post officeThe Islesford post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 410
  9. 1921In the archiveWarren Mount Desert from Cranberry Island 2006.425
  10. 1983On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Cranberry Isles, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s2 items
Warren Mount Desert from Cranberry Island 2006.4251921Warren Mount Desert from Cranberry Island 2006.425Warren Bunker's Cove Islesford 2006.4141926Warren Bunker's Cove Islesford 2006.414
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today9 recent
Broadband - Cranberry Isles Surf the Internet (20180710-RD-LSC-0382)2018Broadband - Cranberry Isles Surf the Internet (201807…Broadband - Cranberry Isles Surf the Internet (20180710-RD-LSC-0372)2018Broadband - Cranberry Isles Surf the Internet (201807…Broadband - Cranberry Isles Surf the Internet (20180710-RD-LSC-0352)2018Broadband - Cranberry Isles Surf the Internet (201807…Broadband - Cranberry Isles Surf the Internet (20180710-RD-LSC-0213)2018Broadband - Cranberry Isles Surf the Internet (201807…Animals (20180710-RD-LSC-1562)2018Animals (20180710-RD-LSC-1562)201807110-RD-LSC-05442018201807110-RD-LSC-054420180706-OSEC-CS-0006201820180706-OSEC-CS-000620180706-OSEC-CS-0004201820180706-OSEC-CS-0004Eglise Cranberry Island2009Eglise Cranberry Island
On the map

Cranberry Isles on the map in 1983

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cranberry Isles.

Cranberry Isles on the 1983 USGS map1983Bass Harbor sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cranberry Isles.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Warren Mount Desert from Cranberry Island 2006.425
Retake this viewWarren Mount Desert from Cranberry Island 2006.425, 1921

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Cranberry Isles’ page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Cranberry Isles

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
9
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Islesford Historical Museum and Blue Ducks Ship…
Islesford Historical Museum and Blue Ducks Ships StoreBaker Island Light Station, built 1828Bear Island Light Station, built 1839
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Light Station2
Georgian1
Colonial Revival1
Islesford Historical Museum and Blue Ducks Ships StoreGeorgian
Baker Island Light StationLight Station · Built 1828
Bear Island Light StationLight Station · Built 1839

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Cranberry Isles’s post office has been open since 1847.

Cranberry Isles
1847–today
Islesford
1884–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Islesford
Gone or out of use
Baker Island Light Stationbuilding
11cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cranberry Isles
Baker IslandBunkerHarding PointPrebleSand BeachSpurling Revolutionary WarStandley GraveStanley - HadlockStanleyStanley GilleySutton Island

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Mount Desert11 historic placesA+Southwest Harbor4 historic placesAFrenchboro1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNortheast Harbor3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWinter Harbor7 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Cranberry Isles’ history

What year was Cranberry Isles founded?

The Cranberry Isles post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Cranberry Isles?

Three places: the Islesford Historical Museum and Blue Ducks Ships Store (listed 1980), the Baker Island Light Station (1988) and the Bear Island Light Station (1988).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.