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Birch Point, Isle au Haut, MEPhoto: Public domain · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Isle au Haut

44% of Isle au Haut’s homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 4 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1830.

2on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Isle au Haut’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Isle au Haut’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1830 and 1970, then more than doubled.On the map since 19043 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1983. Watch Isle au Haut change.Old housesHalf of Isle au Haut’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Isle au Haut’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Isle au Haut’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo3 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewBirch Point: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Isle au Haut, census by census

01002003001850190019502000315 in 1830Low: 45

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1830 and 1970, then more than doubled.

16 censuses, 1830–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Isle au Haut’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Isle au Haut on the map, 1904 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Isle au Haut. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Isle au Haut on the 1904 USGS mapIsle au Haut on the 1942 USGS mapIsle au Haut on the 1983 USGS map1904Deer Isle sheet · 1:62,500

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

The story

How Isle au Haut came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Isle au Haut.

Read it all →

Native Americans left behind shell mounds on the island following their oyster feasts. It was territory of the Penobscot Abenaki Indians when, in 1604, French explorer Samuel de Champlain named it Isle au Haut, meaning High Island. English Capt. John Smith, charting the coast in 1614, noted that it was the highest island in Penobscot Bay. It was included in Deer Isle Plantation, incorporated by Massachusetts on February 2, 1789, as the town of Deer Isle.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Isle au Haut, 1830 to 1911

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1830CensusPopulation peaks at 315
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1907BuiltIsle Au Haut Light Station is built
  6. 1911BuiltGooden Grant House is built
By decade

Isle au Haut, decade by decade

Date unknown3 to date
Birch PointDate?Birch PointPostcardRoad SceneDate?Road ScenePostcardIsle Au Haut Light Station, Robinson's PointDate?Isle Au Haut Light Station, Robinson's Point
Today2 recent
Sailing yacht anchored in Duck Harbor Maine July 20122012Sailing yacht anchored in Duck Harbor Maine July 2012Wet forest as is2008Wet forest as is
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.

Birch Point
Retake this viewBirch Point

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Isle au Haut’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Isle au Haut

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Isle Au Haut Light Station
Isle Au Haut Light Station, built 1907Gooden Grant House, built 1911
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Light Station1
Isle Au Haut Light StationLight Station · Built 1907
All 2 listings
Gooden Grant HouseBuilding · listed 2013

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Isle au Haut

Nobody well known was born in Isle au Haut itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Nelson RockefellerVice President of the United States from 1974 t… · b. 1908
Edna St. Vincent MillayAmerican poet · b. 1892
Charles O. HobaughAmerican astronaut, fighter pilot · b. 1961
Esther RalstonAmerican actress · b. 1902
W
Walter PistonAmerican composer · b. 1894
E
Edward Lawry NortonEngineer · b. 1898
Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Isle au Haut
Duck HarborMerchant IslandTurners

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.

Stonington1 historic placeBVinalhaven11 historic placesA+Swans Island1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Isle au Haut’s history

What is on the National Register in Isle au Haut?

Two places: the Isle Au Haut Light Station (listed 1988) and the Gooden Grant House (2013).

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 (4), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.