Founded:
Incorporated as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization on June 22, 1993, the first meeting of the Great Cranberry Island Historical Society took place on July 28 of that year.
On August 6, 2000 they opened a historical museum in leased quarters in the Longfellow School.
In 2004 they started fundraising to build our own home, Cranberry House. Cranberry House opened to the public on June 15, 2008. It houses their Museum, Arts Center, Media Room, and Hitty's Café.
Mission:
The Great Cranberry Island Historical Society promotes a strong sense of island community through its historical museum and Arts Center. The society collects, preserves, and studies the history of Great Cranberry and its neighboring islands, and promotes and presents diverse cultural and educational programs.
Facilities:
Museum:
The handicap-accessible museum is on the first floor of Cranberry House. In the museum you will learn the unique aspects of life on an island. You will find an eclectic assortment of items, most displayed in groups with a common theme: quilts, Indian sweetgrass baskets, braided rugs, antique household items, old photos and marriage certificates, a shark harpoon, duck decoys, lobster buoys, ship models, farming tools, old bottles and electrical insulators, shipwright's tools, shipwreck remains, and even the original rusticator's sitz bath, complete with personalized towel.
Arts Center:
The Arts Center on the upper floor of Cranberry house.The room is equipped with picture hanging rails on all four walls, display easels, a video projector, screen, and VHS/DVD player/recorder, an audio mixer with loudspeakers and microphones, an electronic piano, music stands, folding tables, and stackable armchairs. It is well-suited to hold movies, lectures, workshops, classes, conferences, luncheons, and intimate theater.
Media Room: Located on the ground floor at the back of Cranberry House, the Media Room is used by the society to make its publications and historical preservation videos.
Public Trail: Walk a relaxing path from Cranberry House, entirely through shaded woods, with waving ferns and cool mosses, over a quiet flowing brook, and across 230 feet of bog bridging to Whistler's Cove, facing the Western Way. You will see Mount Desert Island (Seawall) across the water. There is a sand beach at low tide.
Hitty's Caffé:
Based off the award winning children's book, Hitty, Her First Hundred Years the caffé serves a variety of food and drink outside the Cranberry House.
Activities:
Events calendar
Newsletter
Hours:
Historical Museum: Open daily 10am - 4pm
Hitty's Caffé: Open daily 10am - 4pm
Media room: Open by appointment
Public trail: always open