"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.
Submissions from 2020
Dawnland Dispatches, Will Grunewald and Brian Kevin
Die Hard, V. M. W.
Dining: Local Joint, Brian Kevin
Dining: Ski In, Eat Out, Will Grunewald
Dining: White Barn Inn Restaurant, Will Grunewald
Eat Outside: 33 Beautiful Places to Feast in the Fresh Maine Air, Will Grunewald
Filter Bubble, Sarah Stebbins
Food and Drink: A Communal Table, Will Grunewald
Food and Drink: BuffaLove, Katy Kelleher
Food and Drink: Bundles of Energy, Will Grunewald
Food and Drink: Cooking on the Fine Line, Michaela Cavallaro
Food and Drink: Dining: Takin' It to the Streets, Joe Ricchio
Food and Drink: Flour to the People, Will Grunewald
Food and Drink: Griddle Me This, Will Grunewald
Food and Drink: Hot and Sax-y, Joel Crabtree
Food and Drink: Picking up Steam?, Amber Kapiloff
Food and Drink: Seafood: Shell Game, Joel Crabtree
Food and Drink: Silver-Lining Services, Will Grunewald
Food and Drink: Swigsteen Counties, Will Grunewald
Frozen Assets, Emmeline Willey
Garden: A Slice of Country, Aurelia C. Scott
Get Thee to a Nunnery?, Brian Kevin
Gingerbread Man, Sara Anne Donnelly
Going Up to Camp, Franklin Burroughs
Good Material, S. S.
Good Things From Maine: Bean's, But Make it Fashion, Alexandra Hall
Good Things From Maine: Carving Out a Niche, Rachel Slade
Good Things From Maine: Fair Wares, Marta Denny
Good Things From Maine: Fashion Statements, Amy Sutherland
Good Things From Maine: Fixer Uppers, V. M. W.
Good Things from Maine: Iron Man, Virginia M. Wright
Good Things from Maine: Knotty and Nice, Sarah Stebbins
Good Things from Maine: Put a Lid on It, Sara Anne Donnelly
Good Things from Maine: Rainbow Collection, Tina Fischer
Good Things from Maine: Reviving a Lost Art, Melissa Lizotte
Good Things From Maine: Shoptalk: It's a Cover Up, Rachel Slade
Good Things From Maine: Shore Thing, Sara Anne Donnelly
Good Things from Maine: The Fabric of Her Life, Jesse Ellison
Good Things from Maine: The Fleece Goes On, Amy Sutherland
Good Things From Maine: The Pan Handlers, Virginia M. Wright
Green Acres, Katy Kelleher
Hard Water Heritage, Michael D. Wilson
Heed the Plow, V. M. W.
House Tour: Field of Dreams, Jen DeRose
House Tour: High Style, Scott Hanson
House Tour: Innkeeper's Quarters, Jesse Ellison
House Tour: Room to Grow, Sarah Stebbins
House Tour: Slopeside Retreat, Jen DeRose
Keeping the Beat, W. G.
Larva-Hate Relationship, Laura Poppick