Down East magazine, has been publishing since August 1954, and continues as one of Maine's most prominent monthly magazines. Their web site's history page provides the following description:

"The goal of Down East has always been to hold a mirror up to Maine — its storied past and lively present — and to celebrate its flinty, independent character and unhurried way of life. As Maine has changed with the times, however, so has Down East. Today the state has come to embrace its future as well as its past. Accordingly, the magazine now focuses more on contemporary Maine life and what the future might bring and less on historical background and quaint rusticity. Booming circulation and advertising gains demonstrate the wisdom of this editorial shift."

Portland Public Library's collection of Down East is complete, and begins with the first issue, August 1954. The hard copies are available in the Portland Room.

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Submissions from 1993

Al Diamon is a Portland columnist, commentator and WGAN talk-show host, conversa, Wayne Curtis

"Along the Waterfront" piece on Sabre, the Down East boatbuilding firm, which ha

Amy Dacyczyn of Leeds, author of The Tightwad Gazette and publisher of the newsl, Carolyn R. Marsh

Antique dealer Ross Levett and his artist wife, Susan, live in a three-year-old, Beth Crichlow

A positive step toward reducing the federal deficit is being taken at C. V. Fine

Article about last summer's shooting of the Mel Gibson movie "Man Without a Face, Peter Spectre

Article about some of the microbreweries and brew pubs of Maine., Al Diamon

Article in which Philmore Wass, a native of Libby Island, recounts a story told, Philmore Wass

Artist Fairfield Porter used to summer at his family's Great Spruce Head Island, Sarah Goodyear

At Matinicus Island's one-room school, teacher Tom McKibben is in his fifth year, Cynthia Bourgeault

Author Ben Ames Williams first met Searsmont farmer Bert McCorrison in 1918, a m

Ben Gilbert, head scenic artist of Lakewood Theater - the Maine State Theater -, Ben Gilbert

Bern Porter, 82, of Belfast, a poet, artist and publisher, founded the Institute, Sarah Goodyear

Bill Keoskie, president of Kingfield Wood Products in Kingfield, has created a m, Ken Textor

Bowdoin College, founded in 1794 and named after James Bowdoin, the late governo, Edgar Allen Beem

Carolyn Jenson has a unique garden on the Jensons' 20-acre grounds between Stron, Jane Lamb

Carroll Sargent Tyson, born into a wealthy Philadelphia family in 1878, spent ne

Damariscotta, Newcastle and the neighboring towns on the Pemaquid peninsula have, Jeff Clark

Dave and Nancy Youland own and operate the Bradford Camp, a mecca for hunters an, Davis Thomas

Deer Isle has long been known for its seamen and fishermen, but is now being rec, Sarah Scott

"Down East Bookshelf" piece on Allan Lockyer, author of "Clamdiggers and Downeas, Jay Davis

"Down East Bookshelf" piece on Cherie Mason and her book "Wild Fox: A True Story, Elizabeth Hand

"Down East Bookshelf" piece on "Our Own Snug Fireplace: Images of the New Englan, Richard Grant

"Down East Bookshelf" piece on "The Rusticator's Journal," a collection of sketc, G W. Helfrich

During the 1700s and early 1800s, woodworkers in the Piscataqua region produced, Ellen MacDonald Ward

Ever since renowned operatic and symphony conductor Pierre Monteux founded his s, Sanford Phippen

Every year more than 100,000 people walk the 1.25 miles of Ogunquit's Marginal W, Christine Kukka

For Elizabeth Schuman of Union, being a feltmaker, creating rugs by primitive me, Elizabeth Schuman

Former bush pilot Ray Porter has built a small retirement project into a busy en, Eddie Miles

For those who are seeking a classic Down East clambake, Cabbage Island in Lineki, Amanda Hallowell

For those who may expect that the island of Vinalhaven is bereft of attractions, Margot Brown McWilliams

For those who want to shun Maine's more popular vacation spots, a group of offbe

From an 1820s farmhouse in rural Whitefield, Ed and Barbara Hamilton run a flour, Ken Textor

From York to Cape Elizabeth, the sandy beaches of southern Maine pretty much def

Gulf Hagas, a deep, three-mile canyon east of Greenville and west of the ruins o, Jeff Clark

Hibbert's Gore, located in the upper righthand corner of Lincoln County, is one, Richard Shew

In 1895, publisher Joseph Pulitzer purchased Chatwold in Bar Harbor from Mrs. Lo, G W. Helfrich

Irrepressible Maine painter, the late Waldo Peirce, created a robust North Woods, Martha Severens

James Browning Wyeth, 46, owns both a 300-acre island between Monhegan and the m, Beth Crichlow

John S. Blank III was 14 years old when he started working for the Eastern Steam, John S. Blank

Jonesport and Beals Island high school basketball teams started winning champion, Michael Brosnan

Joseph Peavey invented the peavey, a log-driving tool, in 1858, but what cheated, Elizabeth Peavey

Lynn Butler, whose photographs have appeared in Life magazine and featured in ex, Beth Crichlow

Maine author Franklin F. Gould recalls his first glimpse of the "outside world", Franklin F. Gould

Maine fishermen soon will be able to buy their live bait from vending machines.

Maine has 27 licensed whitewater rafting companies operating on the Kennebec, Pe, Beth Crichlow

Maine's most visible wild rose is Rosa rugosa, but the state is home to other sp, Jane Lamb

Maine's venerable summer camp tradition continues to flourish on the state's riv, Jeff Clark

Master gardener Eliot Coleman of Cape Rosier is the author of two best-selling b, Jeff Clark

MBNA America Bank, the nation's second-largest bank credit card company, recentl, Jeff Clark