Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.