A stunning waterfront walkway and a sparkling harbor greet visitors to Bucksport– long a seafaring port at the upper end of Penobscot Bay, founded by the legendary Jonathan Buck in 1764. Though burned by the British in 1779, Buck rebuilt the shipbuilding and import/export center.

During the height of the schooner trade, ships of every description filled the harbor. Later, the “Boston Boat” steamship made regular stops; and in 1930, Maine Seaboard Paper Company built its mill in Bucksport. Blessed with a central location, historic Bucksport is a “gateway,” intersecting Acadia Highway (US Route 1) to Bar Harbor and Camden with Route 15 reaching to Blue Hill and the Peninsula as well as Bangor. Though central, Bucksport is less bustling than some, offering spectacular views of the famous Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory and historic Fort Knox, Maine’s most visited historic site, just across the harbor. The charming waterfront walk and park is a great place to picnic, relax and enjoy the views of this working harbor and marina. Visit nationally recognized Northeast Historic Film archives, theater and Visitor Center, as well as the Bucksport Historical Society Museum. Bucksport hosts the family fun of the annual Bucksport Bay Festival in late July

Visit Fort Knox by crossing Verona Island, a quiet island town and once home to a beehive of shipbuilding activity, including Admiral Peary’s arctic exploration vessel Roosevelt, launched in 1905 at what is now one of Bucksport’s waterfront parks. Traveling east on U.S. Route 1, the town of Orland, incorporated in 1800, provided England with timber for ship masts. Picturesque Orland Village on the Narramissic River is the site of the oft-photographed United Methodist Church. In East Orland, just off Route1, is Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery, the oldest salmon hatchery in the nation. Visitors enjoy displays, swimming, picnicking and hiking trails, and climbing beautiful Great Pond Mountain. Orland is home to the annual River Days in early July. The Orland and Bucksport area boasts fifteen lakes and ponds, providing myriad recreational and nature activities.