The Rangeley and Its Region: The Famous Boat and Lakes of Western Maine [Paperback]

Stephen A. Cole (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2007

The Rangeley Lakes were the crucible of Maine's nineteenth-century sporting culture, and the Rangeley boat evolved out of this distinctive time and place. As essential to Rangeley as sporting camps, fishing guides, and brook trout, the namesake boat remains a true icon. The Rangeley and Its Region tells how entwined the boat, people, lakes, town, and economy became over a century.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"... words hold us from page to page...drawn to the old photographs and advertisements, hundreds, a pictorial essay speaking volumes in themselves..." -- Maine Sunday Telegram/ Sunday, July 22, 2007

"...a unique and highly recommended regional history... a welcome and popular addition to academic and community library collections." -- Midwest Book Review, August 2007

"...detailed, informative, entertaining and profusely illustrated history...unique and highly recommended..will appeal to a wide audience of readers..." -- The Maine Event, November 2007

"...easy to read...nicely complimented with numerous black and white period photographs of 19th and 20th century Rangeley...includes detailed plans for building your own Rangeley boat." -- Kennebec Journal, August 19, 2007

"...photographs are gems, the words have that bitter-sweet-yesterday-storyteller's tone...perfect match...part historic record, part passed-down tale." -- The Courier Gazatte, August 16, 2007

"...rich narrative...beautifully illustrated with nearly 100 historic black-and-white photos...plans and line drawings...reproductions of early advertisements and brochures..." -- Maine Antique Digest, September 2007

"Even your non-boating friends might ask to borrow this book...good looking, nicely presented book..." -- WoodenBoat Magazine, November/December 2007

About the Author

Stephen A. Cole lives with his family in Damariscotta, Maine, and directs the natural resources and sustainable communities programs at Coastal Enterprises, Inc., a community development corporation. He is co-author of I Was Content and Not Content: The Story of Linda Lord and the Closing of Penobscot Poultry.

Product Details

• Paperback: 127 pages
• Publisher: Tilbury House Publishers (June 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0884482952
• ISBN-13: 978-0884482956
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #782,590 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique and highly recommended regional history, August 3, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rangeley and Its Region: The Famous Boat and Lakes of Western Maine (Paperback)

The Rangeley Lakes region of western Main is an area dominated by four big lakes and linked by streams. This lake system more resembles a series of inland seas than simple and connected freshwater lakes. Sporting camps and lodges became numerous and as tourists were able to access the area by carriage, train, and steamboat in ever larger numbers, a local economy evolved that included craftsmen, entrepreneurs, and guides. By the 1870s a double-ended, lightweight, shapely, swift boat was developed and favored by guides. "The Rangeley And Its Region: The Famous Boat And Lakes Of Western Maine" by Stephen A. Cole (director of natural resources and sustainable communities programs at the community development corporation Coastal Enterprises, Inc.) is the detailed and profusely illustrated history of the area along with the technological innovations and cultural changes associated with the distinctive boat included seas added to the thwarts fo keep the craft passenger centered, and a squaring of the stern to accommodate a motor. The hand-crafted Rangeley boat declined with the coming of post-World War II introduction of factory produced aluminum and fiberglass boats. Yet this unique craft continues to be seen plying the waters of the Rangeley Lakes. "The Rangeley And It Region" is a unique and highly recommended regional history that would make a welcome and popular addition to academic and community library collections.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, February 27, 2008

By 

Gerald Allen "mvsailor" (Martha's Vineyard) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Rangeley and Its Region: The Famous Boat and Lakes of Western Maine (Paperback)

This book is extremely interesting to anyone interested in the history of Western Maine or the Rangeley boat. I loved the old photos with their captions describing a charming time in Maine's history. As an amuture boat builder I found the information on the developement of the Rangeley boat and its builders helpful and informative.

5.0 out of 5 stars An Elegant and Comprehensive History of Rangeley, July 7, 2009

By 

Ralph White (New England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Rangeley and Its Region: The Famous Boat and Lakes of Western Maine (Paperback)

If you are going to purchase just one book about the Rangeley Lakes, this is it. Stephen Cole's book covers everything, starting with ancient history, the trout and salmon fishery, the old camps, and the larger than life characters who helped make Rangeley what it is now. But the heart and soul of the book is "the Rangeley." The Rangeley boat is as elegant as it is functional. It is light and graceful. It is sturdy and capacious. It is lapstraked cedar planking from its sharp bow to its sharp stern. It comprises the innovation of feathering oarlocks, round seats, and open-box thwarts. It draws on the best features of the canoe and the best features of a rowboat. This elegant and functional boat served as the principal mode of water transport for Maine's sportsmen ("sports") and guides for a hundred years. It even survived the advent of the outboard motor in a square-sterned variation. Even today the aluminum boats at Grant's Kennebago Camps suffer from neglect until the last of the Rangeley boats is taken out. Mr. Cole's book even includes building plans. "The Rangeley and Its Region" is an elegantly illustrated comprehensive history of the Rangeley Region and it is the best offering of its kind available.