It’s at the southern tip of the peninsula where Maine’s first granite cutters’ union was founded, but this harborside community has long been better known for its marine resources than its mineral ones. When it was settled, the village was called Herring Gut, and the canning industry reigned supreme here for more than a century — canned lobster, canned clams, canned mussels. When a sardine cannery opened in the 1940s, it became one of the peninsula’s largest employers (then burned down in 1970). Although the once mighty groundfishing fleet has dwindled — only a few trawlers still tie up among the lobsterboats — the village’s lighthouse is a testament to its oceangoing character. That beacon is also one of Maine’s most memorable big-screen landmarks, having briefly hosted an iconic ’90s movie character (a shrimping magnate, no less).
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