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 2009

Gary Freeman, 61, bought a mine in Mount Mica, near Paris Hill, believed to have, Virginia Wright

"Grey's Anatomy" star Patrick Dempsey is a Turner native who now has an addition, Kathleen Fleury

Images from "Ruin: Photographs of a Vanishing America," by Brian Vanden Brink, s, Brian Vanden Brink

In an excerpt from his new book, "Conditions May Vary," former Maine state clima, Gregory A. Zielinski

In an unusual coincidence, the leadership of almost every Maine art institution, Edgar Allen Beem

"Inside Maine" dining piece on the transformation of the Chestnut Street United, Kathleen Fleury

Jane Lamb, who began teaching at Flagstaff High School in 1947, recalls her time, Jane Lamb

Last year, the state of Maine announced a grant that will allow the Department o, Andrew Vietze

Maine author Monica Wood rides along with Sergeant Matthew Bard of the Fairfield, Monica Wood

Maine's Land Use Regulation Commission is expected to approve Plum Creek's massi, Robert Kimber

Mark Swann is director of the social service agency Preble Street in Portland. H, Monica Wood

Mary Knox Wells spent her 1970s girlhood living in a house adjoining the old Wal, Vicki Doudera

Official program of the Harvest on the Harbor, presented by the Greater Portland, Mark Fleming, Wayne Curtis, and Rowan Jacobsen

Portland has only one roller rink, Happy Wheels Skate Center, a relic of the cha, Katie Fuller

Portland's Center for Grieving Children, opened in 1988 by Bill Hemmens, was at, Joshua F. Moore

Profile of Auburn native Lenny Breau, a sometimes brilliant jazz guitarist whose, Al Diamon

Profile of Damariscotta artist Maurice "Jake" Day, who insisted a New England wh, Andrew Vietze

Profile of Leo Brooks, whose art career started at age 60 and ended with his dea, Edgar Allen Beem

Profile of novelist and biographer Roxana Robinson, who lives in Manhattan, but, Anna Kasabian

"Retiring in Maine," a special guide that covers Maine as a retirement state; ho, of Down East Editors

Review of Lily's Cafe and Wine Bar in Stonington, an antiques store, art gallery, Brooke Dojny

Roger Doiron turned his Scarborough lawn into a vegetable garden and founded the, Michaela Cavallaro

Sears Island in Penobscot Bay, the largest undeveloped island on the Eastern Sea, Jeff Clark

Seventh-graders at Troy A. Howard Middle School in Belfast take part in the eigh, Kathleen Fleury

Since the 1997 opening of the Coastal Connector near Topsham, the town has trans, Virginia Wright

Singer Carol Noonan and her husband Jeff Flagg opened the Stone Mountain Arts Ce, Beth Brosnan

Special section on daytrips to Ogunquit, Biddeford, Freeport, Bridgton, Hallowel, of Down East Editors

Special section on relocating to Maine, with an excerpt from "Maine Street: Face, of Down East Editors

Special supplement on Freeport, Maine's shopping destination, which continues to, of Down East Editors

Spurred by Scotsman Andrew Stewart's revival of the Hope General Store, the slee, Virginia Wright

Sweetgrass Farm Winery and Distillery on the Medomak River in Union was started, Kathleen Fleury

The author flies with an Owls Head Transportation Museum volunteer in a 1941 Ste, Elizabeth Peavey

The Butterfly & Insect Museum at Maine Art Glass in Lisbon Falls, founded by Jim, Meadow Rue Merrill

The eight-person Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit in Vassalboro has solve, Cynthia Anderson

The featured property of the month is the Williamson House in Belfast, built in

The Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge, stretching from the New Hamp, Colin Woodard

The nine-day, July, Maine Potato Blossom Festival in Fort Fairfield features ins, Peter A. Smith

The nonprofit annual Maine Canoe Symposium at Winona Camps in Bridgton seeks to, Elizabeth Peavey

"The Talk of Maine" piece how European tourism to Maine has rebounded since the, Jeff Clark

"The Talk of Maine" piece on "American Loggers," which debuted on the Discovery, Beth Brosnan

"The Talk of Maine" piece on GoMOOS, the Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System th, Colin Woodard

"The Talk of Maine" piece on how native fish populations are being depleted in M, Ted Williams

"The Talk of Maine" piece on Maine's first community wind-power project--newly o, Thomas Urquhart

"The Talk of Maine" piece on Maine's Green Party, founded 25 years ago as the fi, Jeff Clark

"The Talk of Maine" piece on the evolution and activities of North Maine Woods I, Edgar Allen Beem

"The Talk of Maine" piece on the "FairPoint fiasco," the problem-plagued transit, Joshua F. Moore

"The Talk of Maine" piece on the inconsistencies and possible inefficacy of Main, Peter Zinn

"The Talk of Maine" piece on the Marine Patrol, which tries to work with fishing, Ken Textor

The Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Augusta was conceived as the Togus Spring, Richard Grant

"What's in a Picture?" piece on a photo by Fred Philpot of a draft team rolling, Joshua F. Moore