"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
Old Home Place, David Howard
Our Cheese Culture, V. M. W.
Our Favorite (Loud) Maine Sounds, B. K.
Out of the Classroom, Onto the Front Line
Panel Discussion, Sara Anne Donnelly
Path Breaker, Jesse Ellison
Portland Lives Up to the Hype, B. K.
Pour Farmers, Will Grunewald
Pour One Out, Joe Ricchio
Pre-Digital Connectivity, Michael Burke
Rick Charette's Greatest Hits, Joel Crabtree
Rockport Has a Lot of Views, Virginia M. Wright
Room with a View: A Sense of Time, Susan Hand Shetterly
Room with a View: Farewell My Lovelies!, Susan Hand Shetterly
Room with a View: Home on the Range, Susan Hand Shetterly
Room with a View: Interesting Times, Susan Hand Shetterly
Room with a View: Little Moose Island, Susan Hand Shetterly
Room With a View: Ode to an Apple Tree, Susan Hand Shetterly
Room with a View: Singing in the Half-Light, Susan Hand Shetterly
Room with a View: The First Years, Susan Hand Shetterly
Room with a View: Wonderful Things, Susan Hand Shetterly
Roots Run Deep, Rachel Slade
Royal Tannenbaums, Jesse Ellison
Second Helpings, Jesse Ellison
Segment One, Brian Kevin and Pamola Creative photographers
Seguinland, Anne Witty
Shoptalk: Blade Runners, Sara Anne Donnelly
Simply Gourd-geous, W. G.
Snack to the Future, Joel Crabtree
Stalking the Antlered Lamp, Virginia M. Wright
The 34 Beer Taps at Novare Res Bier Café, W. G.
The A-Frames of Route 27, B. K.
The Big Three, W. G.
The Blaze-Orange Beanie, Brian Kevin
The Cutting Edge, Andrew C. Miller
The Gawler Family, B. K.
The Great Maine Scavenger Hunt (2020), Alexandra Hall
The Joy of Flax, Virginia M. Wright
There and Back Again, W. G.
"There's Just Something Here That Gives Us This Sense of Identity", Brian Kevin, interviewer and Kathryn Olmstead
The Return of the King?, Ted Williams
The Sam Hayward Ripple Effect, Michaela Cavallaro
The Scent of the Coast, Jennifer Lynn Craig
Timelines: A Governor Tries to Steal an Election, Brian Kevin
Timelines: June 1934, Elizabeth Arden Invents the Destination Spa, Susan Geib
Timelines: Lafayette National Park Becomes Acadia, Brian Kevin
Timelines: Maine Gets Its Northern Crown, Will Grunewald
Timelines: Maine Launches the Last Five-Masted Schooner, David Shribman
Timelines: Percival Baxter Has a Mountaintop Epiphany, Andrew Vietze