Bucksport ME (Maine)

Bucksport ME is a historic town in Maine USA (Hancock County) with population around 5,000. The town is linked to Fort Knox (across Penobscot River estuary) via Penobscot Narrows Bridge. Bucksport is crossed by US 1 Highway (parallels the Atlantic Ocean from New Hampshire to Calais/through Portland-Brunswick-Belfast, then the St Croix River and the USA-Canada border to Fort Kent). Bucksport borders Orrington and Holden (north), Dedham and Orland (east), Verona Island (south), and Prospect, Frankfort and Winterport (west).

As cruise port, Bucksport ME was introduced in the 2021's schedule of the largest US-flagged cruise shipping company ACL-American Cruise Lines. Next table shows the 10-night "Grand New England Cruise" itinerary (ship American Constitution), which is a Boston roundtrip with prices from ~USD 7000 per person, with double occupancy.

Bucksport was visited for the first time by ACL's boat American Constitution in May 2019. The unscheduled stop followed Bar Harbor ME's decision (due to the Coronavirus crisis) to deny the vessel docking through the rest of the year. On shore excursions, ACL passengers are bused from Bucksport to Fort Knox State Historic Site (in Prospect ME, ~ 5 mi / 8km from the mouth of Penobscot River) or to Acadia National Park (on Mount Desert Island).

The town was named after Colonel Jonathan Buck, who in 1762 arrived to survey the area, and in 1763 permanently settled, building a sawmill, house and store. By 1775, the settlement (initially named "Plantation No1") had 21 families. In 1780 was built the Jed Prouty Tavern and Inn (now a nursing home for the elderly). Following the American Revolutionary War (1775-83), the settlement was renamed "Buckstown Plantation" and incorporated (as Buckstown) in 1792 and in 1817 renamed Bucksport.

The town's current economy is based primarily on shipbuilding (boats), fishing (fisheries), lumber/wood industry, light manufacturing (marine pumps, barrels, carriages, leather goods, boots, shoes). In 1930 opened Bucksport Mill (initially owned by Maine Seaboard Paper Co/last by Verso Corporation) but was closed in 2014. In 2018, Whole Oceans (company specializing in the construction of salmon aquaculture systems) purchased the Verso paper mill's site to convert it into a recirculating Atlantic Salmon aquaculture facility.