"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 2019
Burnt Out, Jesse Ellison
Cage Fight, Joel Crabtree
Captain Harpswell, Brian Kevin
Charting a New Course, Philip Kiefer
Cold School, Joel Crabtree
Collector's Items, W. G.
Colonial Studies, Joel Crabtree
Cookbook: Bisquey Move, Will Grunewald
Cookies for a Cause, Arielle Greenberg
Dining: Aragosta, Michaela Cavallaro
Dining: Crown Jewel, Kate McCarty
Dining: Eaux, Michaela Cavallaro
Dining: Elda, Joe Ricchio
Dining: Flood's, Kate McCarty
Dining: Flux, Mattie John Bamman
Dining: The Mountain Room, Joe Ricchio
Drinking Buddies, Jesse Ellison
Endless Hosta-bilities, Virginia M. Wright
Endless Vanished Days, Ron Currie
Even Flow, Jamie Lovley
Every Lobster Must Get Stoned, Will Grunewald
Every Maine Lighthouse Ranked, The Editors
Everyone Out of the Pool!, Virginia M. Wright
Fall Off the Radar: An Autumn Ramble Through Western Maine's Backwoods and Back Roads, Benjamin Williamson, photographer
Fancy Feast, Will Grunewald
Farmer, Father, Drummer, Pol, Will Grunewald
Festival of Bites, W. G.
Figure Study, Erin Stewart Brown and Erin Little Photographer
Find Your Maine Lake, Brian Kevin; Kendra Caruso; and Jada Fitch, illustrations
Food and Drink: Pops Art, Will Grunewald
Food and Drink: Shrub Hub, The Editors
Food and Drink; Spirits: Still Life, Joel Crabtree
Food and Drink: Standing O's, Will Grunewald
Food and Drink: Taco Tuesdays, Malcolm Bedell
Food and Drink: Taste the River, Brian Kevin
Food and drink: True Beer Bro, Joel Crabtree
Foodways: Wild Ride, Amber Kapiloff
Forest Ave Food Crawl, W. G.
Free the Udders!, Virginia M. Wright
Friday Night Lite, Joel Crabtree
Full Plates, Genevieve Beaudoin
Garden: Nana Knows Best, Anna Bolton
George H.W. Bush, 1924-2018, various authors
Getting Tipsy, W. G.
Going Public, Will Grunewald
Good Things From Maine: Beach Baubles, Maggie Nevens
Good things from Maine: Big Foot, Virginia Wright
Good Things from Maine: Carry On, Virginia M. Wright
Good Things From Maine; Craft; Glass Act, Molly Haley Photographer and Jesse Ellison
Good things from Maine : Marilyn Robertson, Caitlin Gilmet