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Gordon Chibroski/Staff PhotographerToday, thanks to a small group of determined people, the property on the New Meadows River is on a path to preservation.
Though they still need to raise $200,000 for wharf renovation, members of the Holbrook Community Foundation remain confident that their efforts will benefit residents of Cundy's Harbor as well as the men and women whose livelihoods depend on access to the ocean.
"This is the center of Cundy's Harbor. If we had lost that, we would have lost that town atmosphere," said Bill Mangum, president of the foundation. "It would have been a tremendous loss not just for the people who live here, but for the town and entire state."
Commercial fishermen have used Holbrook's Wharf for decades. A nearby general store opened in 1898, but as the decades passed, the store operation dwindled to the point that it was open only a few days each year.
In 2005, the wharf's owners, Ed Handel and Robert Fitzpatrick of Massachusetts, listed the property for $1.15 million.
The riverfront parcel, which totals three-quarters of an acre, includes the store; the Trufant Home, an 1860s Italianate-style mansion that sits atop a hill overlooking the harbor; a dilapidated fishing wharf; and a restaurant.
Fearful the property would be sold and converted to what locals call a "McMansion," the Trust for Public Lands intervened. Wolfe Tone, who managed the project for the land trust, said his agency acquired an option to buy the wharf in April 2005.
That action kept the property off the market while members of the all-volunteer foundation raised the money needed to buy Holbrook's Wharf.
The Holbrook Community Foundation took ownership of the property on Dec. 21, 2006.
"It was a challenge in that there was a high risk at the front end of this project. They were asking people to invest in their vision, and that required building trust," Tone said of the foundation's fundraising efforts.
More than 500 people contributed funds to the project. The town of Harpswell added $50,000.
The Land for Maine's Future program plans to contribute $300,000.
A recent study conducted by the Island Institute in Rockland found that just 20 miles of Maine's 5,300-mile coastline is classified as "working waterfront," and much of that is vulnerable to development that could limit access further.
The Land for Maine's Future program has allocated $2 million for working waterfront projects and will seek voter approval in November for an additional $3 million, according to director Tim Glidden.
Glidden said his agency was struck by the intensity of community support for Holbrook's Wharf. The Foundation is composed of 14 members, all of whom are unpaid volunteers.
"Holbrook's Wharf is unique in that a community foundation was established to protect this property. The community really came around this initiative," he said.
Mangum and other foundation members spend a lot of their spare time working on various aspects of the project.
Mangum is trying to recruit more commercial fishing ventures to the wharf. Maguro Tuna, which Fitzpatrick owns, leases some of its space, and Fitzpatrick's boats have been unloading and freezing tuna there.
Mangum said the foundation takes the revenue generated from leasing the store, the restaurant and two apartments in the Trufant Home to help it maintain the property.
The store is operated by Greg Worth and Jeff Campbell. Sheldon and Kathleen Morse manage Morse's at Holbrook's.
On Friday morning, Holbrook's Wharf buzzed with activity, even though it was an overcast day. Holbrook's General Store, which had been open only a few days a year, is open seven days a week for the summer.
Elsa Martz, one of the foundation's more active members, sat in a corner, cutting out promotional brochures...
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