"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 2015
Guide. Dining: Custom Deluxe, Joe Ricchio and Meredith Purdue, photographer
Guide. Dining: Mill 67, Michaela Cavallaro and Meredith Purdue, photographer
Guide. Dining: Portland Pâtisserie, Grace-Yvette Gemmell and Meredith Perdue, photographer
Guide. Dining: Ports of Italy, Meadow Rue Merrill and Erin Little, photographer
Guide. Dining: The Menu, [Editorial staff writers]
Guide. Dining: Thistle Pig, Elizabeth Peavey and Adam Detour, photographer
Guide. Dining: Van Lloyd’s Bistro, Brian Kevin and Kari Herer, photographer
Guide. Dining: Vinland, Michaela Cavallaro
Guide : Drawing in the news, Virginia M. Wright
Guide. Excursion: Camden in Bloom, Meadow Rue Merrill
Guide. Excursion: Workingman’s Art, Kym Gilhooly
Guide. Fiction: Point Last Seen, Paul Doiron
Guide. Fiction: The Little Hutchinsons, Ann Beattie
Guide. Music : Easier listening/Liztening, Brian Kevin
Guide. Music: High Five, Brian Kevin
Guide. Music: Play, Paws, Record, Brian Kevin
Guide. Music: Rustic Never Sleeps, Jeff Beam
Guide. Music: Smooth Jazz, Brian Kevin
Guide. Music: Unfiltered lights, B.K. [Brian Kevin]
Guide. Radio: Return of the Old-Timers, Sara Anne Donnelly
Guide. Sport: Swing easy, Nancy Heiser
Guide. Theater: In the Flesh, Monica Wood
Guide. Theater: Not Toying Around, Grace-Yvette Gemmell
Guide. Theater: Snow Comparison, Brian Kevin
Guide. Treat: Puff Piece, Grace-Yvette Gemmell
Hard Opening, Brian Kevin and Dana Smith, photographer
Hard Tellin’ Not Knowin’, Michael Erard; Hanji Chang, illustrator; and Andy O'Brien, illustrator
His Own Lilliput, Catherine Gentile
Home Grown : An April Shower of Seeds, Richard Grant and Marty Braun, illustrator
It’s Island Time: Islands A-Z, [Editorial staff writers]
Kelp: It’s What’s for Dinner, Rob Sneddon and Douglas Merriam, photographer
Let it burn, Michael Burke
Lost in Translation, Suzanne Rico and Séan Alonzo Harris, photographer
Maine’s Best New Restaurants, [Editorial staff writers] and Adam DeTour, photographer
Maine's retirement communities, [Editorial staff writers]
Maine’s top docs : Physician survey 2015, [Editorial staff writers]
Maine Suds, Brian Kevin and Mark Fleming, photographer
Maine summer camps, [Editorial staff writers]
Make a Decent Middle-Class Living Doing What You Love or Die Tryin’, Brian Kevin and Andrew Foster, photographer
Making it in Maine. In Harmony with the Past, Kim Brawn and Cait Bourgault, photographer
Mr. CMP, Virginia M. Wright
My Intractable, Gun-loving, Anti-Government, Right-Wing Cousin (Who I Like a Lot), Ron Currie Jr. and Tristan Spinski, photographer
My Maine. Heirlooms, Carrie Braman
My Maine. Waiting for Ice-Out, Jane Corsen
North by east : 20 questions about Maine charter schools, Edgar Allen Beem
North by East. 5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know about the Portland Sea Dogs, B. K. [Brian King]
North by East. All Buzz, No Sting?, Jennifer Mitchell
North by East. Aloha from Hawaii 2!, Brian Kevin
North by East. Appalachian Trials, Brian Kevin
North by East. Blurred Lines, Brian Kevin