"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 1999
"Letters to the Editor." Four letters about a "Where in Maine" photo of Thunder, Donald Rogers, Alvaro Clements, Cathy Kalenian, and Lacey MacQuinn
"Letters to the Editor." Four letters on the "Where in Maine" photograph of Liv, Antonio Balsamo, Lela Richards Colvin, Susan St Jean, Maurie Shink, and Marcel Shink
"Letters to the Editor." Four letters on the "Where in Maine" photograph of the, FS Lacerton VanAntwerpen, Leonard Frederic Tony, and Baxter A Sweater
"Letters to the Editor." Four letters on the "Where in Maine" photograph of UMa, FS Lacertosa VanAntwerpen, Leonard Frederic Tony, Sweetser A, and Elizabeth Baxter
"Letters to the Editor." Letter correcting a previous article about the Stratto, Jean Tripp
"Letters to the Editor." Letter naming and describing three omitted people who, Susan Hathaway Boydston
"Letters to the Editor." Letter opposing Cathie McBrierty's effort to increase, Janice Kasper
"Letters to the Editor." Six letters memorializing Down East essayist Caskie St, Robert H. Marshall, Bob Young, Ken Davis, Deborah Aldridge, David K. Phillips, and Charles Bean
"Letters to the Editor." Six letters on the "Where in Maine?" photograph of the, Grace A. Parks, LL McLaughlin Larmon, Lemmen Art &, Geer Catherine Joe, and Dennis Farley
"Letters to the Editor." Two letters on the "Where in Maine" photograph of Thom, Jan Faulstick and Tellman Jennalyn John
Map with the sites of 43 novels set in Maine., Paul Doiron
Mary Lou Quinn and Phil Tarkington collect beach glass in Lubec, which bears a l, Elizabeth Peavey
"North by East." Although state law requires that every Maine student take a Ma
"North by East." Bath Iron Works will build the Navy's second amphibious transp
"North by East." Chris and Patricia Dunn run the Canine Country Club, a "dog da
"North by East." Coach John Marshall from Maine is attempting to win sailing's
"North by East." Comments of the Maine Film Office's Greg Gadberry on the telev
"North by East." Comments on the dawn of the new century in Maine, and profiles
"North by East." Curmudgeon John Barnett left the town of Benton $30,000 in his
"North by East." David and Mildred Crosby sold their barn to a buyer who will mo
"North by East." Description of Museum Research Associates, Ron Kley and Jane R
"North by East." Description of the purchase of Hannaford Brothers Co., owner o
"North by East." Description of the work of Christine Peters, shoe model at Col
"North by East." Descriptions of Ogunquit's Marginal Way; Cathie McBrierty's ch
"North by East." Descriptions of the closure of the newspaper "Maine Times" and
"North by East." Easton potato farmer Gaylen Flewelling is one of the few hand-
"North by East." Eight Maine fishing statistics, with detailed captions.
"North by East." Every September, Nancy Butler and Linda Butler Perkins hand ou
"North by East." Extinction is a possibility for Atlantic salmon in Maine, as a
"North by East." Five statistics, with detailed captions, and three related fact
"North by East." Four Maine retirees built the bleachers at Biddeford's Waterho
"North by East." Four statistics, with detailed descriptions of state and feder
"North by East." Gary Eckmann's McDonald's restaurant in Greenville, subject of
"North by East." Generated to publicize the Winterfest, the four-million-pound
"North by East." Harmony residents remain upset by their missing bridge, which
"North by East." Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth, using 20 volunteer
"North by East." Maine has the largest stand of European linden trees in New En
"North by East." Maine loons, already suffering from mercury contamination, are
"North by East." Maine shipped fifteen osprey to Ohio to help that state rebuil
"North by East." Monticello voted overwhelmingly to retain its status as one of
"North by East." Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park have started the
"North by East." Obituary of South Berwick writer Gladys Hasty Carroll, author
"North by East." Profile of Elizabeth Johnson of Scarborough. She and her sons,
"North by East." Profile of Heather Blease's EnvisioNet Computer Services in Br
"North by East." Profiles of ship chandleries in Portland harbor. Only two rem
"North by East." Propane-powered buses on Mount Acadia Island have had astonish
"North by East." Scientists at the University of Maine's Quarternary Institute
"North by East." Six statistics, with lengthy descriptions, on rest rooms in Po
"North by East." Story of a black bear attempting to enter a kitchen in Ellswor
"North by East." Students at Dirigo High School in Dixfield learn community ser