Waterfront, Vinalhaven, Me. 11.

Waterfront, Vinalhaven, Me. 11.

Sail is still strong here in what is probably a pre-World War I photograph. Eleven sloop boats and a three-masted cargo schooner are in evidence, along with one schooner yacht. Flat bottom skiffs and double enders are inboard of the lobster floats. "Gasolene" and the "Machine Shop" are both on barges. Many boats are in need of paint and dirty transoms show that many of the sloop boats carry auxiliary engines. In the background is the Lane-Libby Fish Company, incorporated in 1908 which, by 1910, had the first cold storage plant in New England. It specialized and patented various salt fish products, importing salt from Italy. It was dissolved in 1928 and dismantled in 1940. As fishing fleets became engined, the merit of being close to rail lines and offshore fisheries outweighed being central to a inshore fishery, which could not supply fish in quantities needed by a processing plant. --Vinalhaven Historical Society Addition label added 11-10-2016 Looking east across Vinalhaven's harbor, one can see in the distance the buildings owned and operated by the Lane-Libby Fisheries Company. The taller structure to the left was a cold storage facility, the first of its kind on the eastern seaboard. The large three-masted barque, center right, was likely delivering salt from Italy to the Lane-Libby warehouse, which had a capacity to store 3,000 hogsheads (a hogshead was a large wooden barrel). The two "floating" businesses in the foreground are self-explanatory. The photograph was taken at the site of today's Fishermen's Co-op, where many local lobstermen sell their daily catch. Vinalhaven Historical Society Eastern Illustrating Collection