Whitehead Island

The Whitehead Lifesaving Station was a maritime rescue facility on Whitehead Island, an island off the coast of St. George, Maine at the mouth of Penobscot Bay. Established in 1874 by the United States Life-Saving Service, its original building is one of the best-preserved of the five stations built by the service on the coast of Maine and New Hampshire at that time. The station was in active use until the 1940s, and is now privately owned. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

Whitehead Light is a lighthouse on Whitehead Island, on Muscle Ridge Channel, in the southwestern entrance to Penobscot Bay, Maine. It is in the town of St.George. Established in 1804, it is one of Maine's oldest light stations, with its present tower built in 1852 to a design attributed to Alexander Parris. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Whitehead Light Station on March 14, 1988. The property is now owned by not for profit Pine Island Camp. Whitehead light station offers to the public various stays at the light station from getaway weekends to learning retreats and renting the station as a vacation home. The light itself remains an active aid to navigation, maintained by the United States Coast Guard.

Spruce Head is an unincorporated village in Knox County, Maine, United States. The community is located on Penobscot Bay and Maine State Route 73 6.5 miles (10.5 km) south of Rockland. Spruce Head has a post office with ZIP code 04859, which opened on March 4, 1880.The village of Spruce Head lies partly in the township of South Thomaston and partly in the township of St. George and is connected by a bridge to Sprucehead Island, which is entirely within the borders of South Thomaston. The island faces the Muscle Ridge Islands to the east across a channel. Seal Harbor is a well-protected anchorage formed by the southern shore of Sprucehead Island, the eastern shores of Patten Point and Rackliff Island, and the northern shores of Norton Island and Whitehead Island. Spruce Head village centers on the post office, Spruce Head Community Church (built in the late 19th century), and the Spruce Head Community Hall (built in 1923). An additional hamlet considered part of Spruce Head is found along Clark Island Road on the western shore of Wheeler Bay and lies within the township of St. George. It affords access to the Clark Island Preserve, a part of the Maine Coast Heritage Trust. Spruce Head was the boyhood home of poet and Connecticut Governor Wilbert Snow, who was born on Whitehead Island and is buried in the Ocean View Cemetery at Spruce Head. The island is home to an active lobster fishing fleet, several lobster wholesalers, and a lobster shack, which in 2017 was reviewed by Yankee Magazine as having the best lobster roll in Maine. The Spruce Head Fisherman's Co-op is the third largest fishing co-operative in Maine. In 2022 the Spruce Head fleet recorded landings valued at $18.29 million, the fourth highest in Maine for the year.

The Weskeag River is a short tidal river in Knox County, Maine. The Abenaki Indians called it Wessaweskeag, meaning "tidal creek" or "salt creek". From its source (44°04′13″N 69°09′38″W) in South Thomaston, the river runs 1.2 miles (1.9 km) northeast and southeast to its confluence with Marsh Creek, then 4.2 miles (6.8 km) southeast through its estuary to the Muscle Ridge Channel of West Penobscot Bay. Its mouth is on the border between the towns of South Thomaston and Owls Head.

Two Bush Island Light is a lighthouse on Two Bush Island, on the channel of the same name, the southwestern entrance to Penobscot Bay, Maine, United States. The two bushes for which the island was named have long since vanished. The lighthouse was established in 1897. The keepers were removed when the light was automated in 1964. Afterward, the Two Bush Island fog signal was operated by the keepers at nearby Whitehead Light Station, who also monitored the light. The keeper's house was destroyed in 1970 as a Green Beret demolition exercise. In the summer of 2000, the light was converted to solar power. The lighthouse itself continues to be a navigation aid, but is only visible by boat or from the air. In 1998, the lighthouse became the property of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Birch Point State Park is a public recreation area occupying 62 acres (25 ha) on Penobscot Bay in the town of Owls Head, Knox County, Maine. The state park features a sandy, crescent-shaped "pocket beach" with scenic views of the Muscle Ridge Islands dotting Muscle Ridge Channel. The park is managed by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.

South Thomaston is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,511 at the 2020 census. A fishing and resort area, the town includes the village of Spruce Head.

The George Thorndike House is a historic house in Maine State Route 73 in South Thomaston, Maine. Built in 1855, it is one of the region's finest examples of Italianate architecture, its design attributed to Thomaston native Benjamin S. Deane. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

St. George is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. It includes the villages of Port Clyde and Tenants Harbor, with the latter being town's commercial center. A favorite with artists, writers and naturalists, St. George is home to the Brothers and Hay Ledge nature preserve, comprising four islands off Port Clyde. The town's population stands at 2,594 residents, according to the 2020 Census.

Downeast Airlines Flight 46 was a scheduled airline service in the United States from Boston's Logan International Airport to Rockland, Maine operated by Downeast Airlines. On May 30, 1979 a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter operating the flight crashed during a nonprecision approach to Rockland's Knox County Regional Airport. All but one of the 18 people on board were killed. The cause of the accident was controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) after the failure of the flight crew to stop the aircraft's descent below the minimum descent altitude for the non-precision approach at Knox County airport. The investigation into the accident looked into the airline's corporate culture as a contributing factor to the crash; this was the first time an investigation took this approach to an air crash. The crash of Flight 46 is currently the deadliest to have occurred in the state of Maine. At the time of the crash, the crew had descended the Twin Otter below the minimum descent altitude in order to see the runway in heavy fog.

The Sail Loft is a historic commercial building on Front Street in the Tenants Harbor village of St. George, Maine. Built in 1860, it is one of the only surviving buildings from the village's 19th-century heyday as a shipbuilding center. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

Knox County Regional Airport (IATA: RKD, ICAO: KRKD, FAA LID: RKD) is a county-owned, public-use airport in the town of Owls Head, Knox County, Maine, United States. It is located three nautical miles (6 km) south of the central business district of Rockland, Maine. The airport serves the residents of midcoast Maine with commercial and charter aviation services. Scheduled airline service is subsidized by the Essential Air Service program. It is also a major hub of freight and mail service to Maine's island communities including Matinicus, North Haven and Vinalhaven. As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 13,866 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 14,461 enplanements in 2009, and 17,657 in 2010. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a primary commercial service airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year).During the summer months, the airport is one of Maine's busiest, with significant private jet operations bringing visitors to the numerous summer colonies in the Penobscot Bay region. The influx in traffic in recent years prompted the implementation of a voluntary night curfew on arrivals and departures between 10:30 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Owls Head Transportation Museum is also situated at the airport on the remains of runway 17/35, a third runway that is now abandoned. It has a museum of antique autos, aircraft, and engines. During the summer special event gatherings are held for enthusiasts.