It’s just one of some 4,500 islands off the coast of Maine, but many claim nothing comes even close to its raw quality and beauty. Monhegan’s dramatic cliffs, among the highest in New England, offer magnificent panoramas of the Atlantic.

For centuries, Monhegan has been known as a superb fishing area. Over four thousand years ago, Native Americans used the island as an offshore base to hunt large swordfish from hand-carved canoes. In the 16th and 17th century, European settlers came attracted by the abundance of cod. Today, the island is famous for its lobster fishing.

But Monhegan has also been a haven for painters and photographers who come here attracted by the magnificent light, quietude, and beauty of the rugged shore. There are no street lamps and no car traffic. Instead, just storms, foggy mornings, and dramatic sunsets. On a clear night, the display across the skies, unpolluted by electric lights, is unmatched.

You can trace the history of American painting by looking at artists who come to work on Monhegan – from the Hudson River School, through impressionists and modernists, to some of the best-known post-war painters (including James Wyeth, who maintains one of his homes in here).

Two-thirds of the island remains undeveloped, in no small part, thanks to Theodore Edison (son of the inventor), who started coming here as a 10-year-old. It was him who, in the first decades of the 20th century, started buying land and who, in the 1950s, helped to form Monhegan Associates – an island trust, whose mission is to “preserve natural wild beauty” and “simple friendly way of life.”

Nine miles of natural trails, carefully maintained by the Associates, meander amid coves and ledges, forested peaks, and open meadows.

You can spot whales, seals, and countless birds that migrate over the island in the spring and summer.