Cobscook Bay Area Chamber of Commerce

Whiting

     Population: 407 (2000)

     Traveling north on U.S. 1, Whiting is your entrance to the Cobscook Bay area.  From here, you can travel east to Lubec and Campobello Island, or north to Eastport.

     Originally called Plantation #12, Whiting was incorporated in 1825. Timothy Whiting, an early and prominent landowner and benefactor, offered the town a donation of 400 acres of land for the benefit of free schools upon the condition that the town be called Whiting.

     Lumbering and ship building are occupations that make up a large part of Whiting's history. In addition to the lumber mills, the big business of Whiting for about 150 years years was a grist mill with one or two carding machines located at the former stone dam in the village.

     At the junction of U.S. Route 1 and Route 189, known as Whiting Corner, you will find the Whiting Village School, a two-room schoolhouse serving grades K-8, the Whiting Church (both of which date from about 1825), and the cemetery.

     Settlers of the late 18th century penetrated the wilderness and their activity centered around seaside villages and the mouth of the Orange River, the present site of Whiting village. Farm occupations became a thing of the past in the early 1900's, but neglected fields and run-down pastures began to produce blueberries and soon became the farmers' cash crop. The town of Whiting makes a large contribution to Washington County's high production of wild, low bush, blueberries.

     Further west (also south) along U.S. 1, about 1 1/2 miles from the town center, lies the Quoddy Regional Land Trust a non-profit conservation organization established in 1987.