HANCOCK, Maine — A land trust that owns the local Tidal Falls property has purchased a house adjacent to the popular waterfront picnic spot.
Frenchman Bay Conservancy recently purchased 2.7 acres of land including 318 feet of frontage on the Taunton River, expanding its flagship preserve to about 8 acres total, the organization announced this week in a prepared statement. The new property contains a red house overlooking the picnic area of the preserve.
“The purchase marks the beginning of a multi-year effort to improve the preserve, restore portions of the waterfront, and expand upon the educational and stewardship opportunities Frenchman Bay Conservancy is currently able to offer local communities and out-of-town visitors,” officials with the trust said in the statement. “The purchase of the red house will provide a permanent and sustainable base for the land trust’s operations.”
In the 1900s, the Hodgkins family operated a lobster pound and buying station at the Tidal Falls property, and then later for many years, they ran a seafood take-out restaurant. The spot now is a popular gathering on Monday nights during July and August when the conservancy hosts a weekly, free, outdoor concert series.
The 2016 Monday Music series will begin on July 11, according to the statement.
Frenchman Bay Conservancy is a nonprofit land trust with a mission to conserve distinctive ecosystems and landscapes from the Union River and Frenchman Bay watersheds east to the Washington County line, according to the release. The land trust conserves 54 properties across 6,600 acres, and it maintains 25 miles of year-round public access hiking trails.
For more information, including a complete list of concerts, visit www.frenchmanbay.org or facebook.com/frenchmanbay/.
