The images, which have never been displayed in public, include captions
researched by more than 20 historical societies, libraries and
individuals. The exhibit was created by the Penobscot Marine Museum in
Searsport and hosted by the Mount Desert Island Historical Society
An archive of 35,000 glass plate and film negatives of the Eastern
Illustrating & Publishing Collection arrived at Penobscot Marine
Museum in 2007 after it was rescued from a flood at its previous home in
Rockport. The collection is actively being processed and archived and
has actually grown as thousands of negatives that "escaped" over the
years have been recovered. Now approaching 50,000 negatives, the Eastern
collection includes scenes not only of Maine but of the rest of New
England and upstate New York as well. In 2011, the museum launched its
online database making this collection (and others) freely available to
the word for research, education and the simple pleasure that viewing
these wonderful images can bring.
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