Why Travelers Ride a Mailboat to This Tiny Maine Island Post Office | Isle au Haut
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Going for a ride with your local mail carrier might not seem like the most exciting way to spend a vacation, but that all changes when you ride the mailboat to Isle au Haut, Maine. In addition to the Downeast sightseeing, it will lead you to one of the smallest post offices in the United States.
The zip code 04645 is one of the least populated in Maine, with just 92 residents on the census list. It might seem unnecessary for an island with a year-round population so small.
However, for all that has changed in this technological world, the mail service to Isle au Haut is one thing that remains as important as it was since the 1850s.
Where is the Isle au Haut Post Office?
Isle au Haut sits off the coast of Stonington, about six miles offshore in Penobscot Bay. The name comes from Samuel de Champlain, who charted the area in 1604 and called it Isle au Haut, meaning “High Island.” That’s because it literally rises higher than most of the surrounding islands.
The post office initially sat at Point Lookout. It was moved to the town of Isle au Haut, just a two-minute walk from the mailboat landing. That’s where it is today, just off Main Street.
While barely larger than an old school outhouse, the weathered wooded white walls hold an American flag and a modest interior.
Just about five minutes past the post office is the Duck Harbor entrance to the Isle au Haut section of Acadia National Park.
The History of Isle au Haut and the Post Office
Getting to Isle au Haut, unless you’re a sturdy seabird, has never been easy. In fact, the challenge of getting mail there made Isle au Haut notoriously get all of its mail (thus, news) a day later than the rest of Maine for decades.
Before European Settlement: Wabanaki and Penobscot Use
Before Europeans arrived, Isle au Haut was part of Wabanaki territory, used primarily by the Penobscot people. They used it seasonally for fishing, hunting, and travel. The surrounding waters were rich with fish and shellfish, and the island sat along important coastal canoe routes through Penobscot Bay.
Early European Settlement and a Working Island Economy
The first European settlers arrived in the 1700s, drawn by fishing, timber, and farming. The surrounding waters were loaded with cod, lobster, and other New England catch. The island had just enough arable land for gardens, livestock, and small farms.
On Isle au Haut, early European settlement quickly became a web of interrelated families. Because the island was small and remote, people tended to marry within the community or into a handful of neighboring islands or coastal families.
That tight-knit community still stands today, with many of the summer visitors being part-time residents for generations.
Mail to Isle au Haut: The Early Years
When mail service began in the 1850s, it had nothing to do with visitors or seasonal life. Boats came in off the beach near what would later become Point Lookout colony, and islanders rowed out to meet them, hauling letters, packages, and supplies back to shore.
In winter, pea-pod boats were brought in, and the crew literally broke their way through the ice to make it to shore.
As Point Lookout was later developed into an exclusive summer colony in 1888, mail delivery shifted to its dock and then clubhouse. It would stay there for almost 100 years before moving closer to the town of Isle au Haut.
Commercialization of the Isle au Haut Mailboat
One thing to understand in the history of Isle au Haut is that tourism was never a goal. Plus, delivering mail was more profitable than towing passengers back then.
However, between the growing Rusticator colony of Point Lookout and the addition of Isle au Haut to Acadia National Park, new visitors were inevitable. The mailboat faced hordes of people waiting at the Stonington dock to get to the island.
By 1980, Duck Harbor had a dock, and the mailboat added it as a stop during daily routes.
Isle au Haut Mailboat & Post Office in the 2000s
In 2002, Isle au Haut Boat Services was formed as a nonprofit to secure reliable, year-round service. It is now supported by Maine DOT’s rural transportation program, town funding, the National Park Service, and private donations. However, more than 80% of the cost is covered by mail, freight, and passenger income.
The Most Prominent Postmistress of Isle au Haut: Meet Miss Lizzy
While the names of postmasters on Isle au Haut include Jasper Chapin, Charles Hamilton, and Captain Charles Turner, you can’t tell the story of the Isle au Haut post office without talking about Miss Lizzie.
Elizabeth Rich was born on Isle au Haut in 1893. She never ventured far off the island and was its heartbeat for decades. Her great-grandfather, Johnathan Rich, was the namesake of Rich’s Cove. Miss Lizzie, as she came to be known, was one of 11 children.
At 16 years of age, Miss Lizzie went to work for the post office and became postmistress in 1927. It’s a job that provided her security for more than 60 years.
“I never had any desire to leave the island. I could have left. If I hadn’t gotten the post office (job) — I was young — there wouldn’t have been anything else to do,” Miss Lizzie was quoted as saying during an interview before her death in 1988.
Before you picture a sweet lady with a Downeast accent, you should know that her reputation puts her as salty as the surrounding sea.
Once people got past her rough exterior and tenacious independence, they quickly learned Miss Lizzie was more than a postmistress. She was the voice of the island, bringing in news, sharing it, and sending messages to those who live outside of the watery borders.
Given Miss Lizzie’s “in the know” status, she started writing a local column about what was happening on the island. She took her role as a community namesake seriously and did her best to connect the year-round community to the summer visitors.
Miss Lizzie retired in 1976 and lived on the island until shortly before her death in Penobscot at 95 years old.
The Miss Lizzie Mailboat
In 1967, the Miss Lizzie mailboat was built, running the daily route between Stonington and Isle au Haut. She served the purpose well for 50 years until 2016, when she was sold to Downeast Windjammer Cruises and now runs routes to the Cranberry Isles.
“With her design and layout and how she has worked all these years, she’s just an ideal boat,” Steve Pagels, owner of Downeast Windjammer Cruises, said after the purchase. “And I have rarely seen a wooden vessel this age in this condition.”
How to Ride the Isle au Haut Mailboat
Even though Isle au Haut is largely part of Acadia National Park, you won’t get there from Mount Desert Island.
From Route 1 in Orland, head south for about an hour by car on the Deer Isle–Stonington peninsula. You’ll drive over two bridges that connect the nearby islands before reaching Stonington.
The Isle au Haut Boat Services is right on the water, with round-trip rides available year-round (weather permitting). However, summer is the ideal time to visit, with stops in the Isle au Haut town center and Duck Harbor Campground of Acadia National Park.
More than Just a Mailboat and Island Post Office
While the Isle au Haut post office doesn’t look like much from the outside, the story behind it might make you stop and savor the history now that you’ve heard it. This is more than a building; it’s the heartbeat of a community that relishes the small-town, wild nature built on a community of kin and kindred spirits.