In 1991 when the McCurdy Smokehouse in Lubec closed, it was the “last of the last” commercial herring smokehouses in the country. For 100 years, it was a place where herring were smoked, packaged and shipped all over the world. The smoked herring business was one of the most important industries of Down East Maine, and now the intact smokehouse, the last of its kind, preserves a vanished era of working waterfronts of the region. It is also endangered by the rising tide.
After a 2018 storm floated the smokehouse complex’s brining shed to Campobello, the owners of the smokehouse, the nonprofit Lubec Landmarks LLC, knew it did not have many years left. This awareness prompted a search for funding, said Nick Taxiarchis, president of Lubec Landmarks, and in late February the group submitted an application for congressional funding with support from the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. The application, submitted through U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ office to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, proposes moving the smokehouse from where it sits on pilings on the Lubec Narrows to the former Peacock cannery on Water Street, a football‑field length to the south.
The 2,400‑square‑foot, rectangular smokehouse is the largest building of the 136‑year‑old smokehouse complex, which includes a sawdust, packing and skinning shed where the current museum is housed. There is already regular inundation of seawater above the floor‑line on high lunar tides, known as king tides, and it has sunk nearly a foot. It probably “won’t last seven or eight years,” Taxiarchis said, adding, “It’s been deteriorating for a long time.”
He pointed out where the northeast corner of the building has pulled away from the pilings and described how they removed the floor to allow the tide to go up and down. On the outside, the weathered cedar shingles are silvery‑gray and ragged in contrast to the ruddy‑red of the lower doors and window vent‑covers on the top half. The metal roof is open at its peak, to allow smoke to escape, and a fragment of roof remains over the vent at the top, giving it the look of another era. Inside there are seven‑to‑eight‑foot ceilings and intact shelves. According to Taxiarchis, the building appears to be in reasonably good shape to move.
Given climate change projections for Maine, there is no reason to be optimistic about the smokehouse’s future if it stays where it is. According to a 2024 Maine Climate Council report, sea level along the Maine coast has gone up 7.5 inches since the 1890s, when the smokehouse was constructed, and has accelerated in the last 30 years. The report also found that the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 97% of ocean surfaces, and four of the last five years have been among the top 10 warmest in Maine.
While Taxiarchis cautioned, “We don’t know what we’re going to be allowed to do,” the plan for the $3.5 million project is to move only the smokehouse to the Peacock property, a 1.5‑acre parcel with four buildings facing Water Street. The smokehouse would replace the two interior buildings, leaving the red‑roofed buildings, part of the original cannery, on either side. Moving the smokehouse would likely involve building a structure to slide it from its pilings to land. Then conventional house moving practices would be used. Most of the project cost is for site preparation, building conservation and permitting. Property acquisition is not covered by congressional funding.
Lubec Landmarks is now in fundraising mode to acquire the Peacock property, having already secured a verbal agreement with the owners that they will not sell until Lubec Landmarks completes the congressional funding process.
If the project is successful, the smokehouse may get a second act on higher ground and be a boon for tourism. Lubec Landmarks sees an opportunity for economic benefit to the town by taking advantage of heritage tourism. There are opportunities to both “maintain our history and leverage the smokehouse as an economic asset for the town,” Taxiarchis said. For example, Landmarks is making connections with the Downeast Fisheries Trail and the Downeast National Heritage Area, a nationally recognized designation, for a site with a “unique culture and natural heritage,” covering Washington and Hancock counties. Both organizations are committed to developing educational opportunities and a “sustainable tourism industry,” and maintain websites directing people to explore Down East’s cultural heritage.
Occasionally, Taxiarchis is asked: Why not build a replica? In response, he points out that this building is the only publicly accessible smokehouse in the country. He also notes its 1993 listing on the National Register of Historic Places, which recognizes the smokehouse as a site “where a unique trade was practiced.”
The smoked herring methods are those brought by settlers from medieval Europe, Scotland and England, representing a “traditional, vernacular method of smoking herring for preservation.” In the 1800s, “dozens of smokehouses lined the water all the way to Eastport, Canada and Machias,” said Sandra Teran, a member of Lubec Landmarks’ board of directors and a smokehouse docent. This long‑term protein source was “how people could survive here,” she said.
In his role as smokehouse docent, Taxiarchis observed, “It is fascinating to share our culture and heritage with people from different countries and for people to learn about it.” He recounted several people who came to Lubec specifically to see the smokehouse.
Other potential benefits to the town, Taxiarchis said, are additional parking and smokehouse availability for community gatherings.
Taxiarchis knows “it could disappear tonight,” but the nonprofit has to try and save the structure if it can. After all, he said, “It’s been here for over a hundred years.” The nonprofit expects to be notified about the funding status this fall.
Donations for the project may be made to mccurdysmokehouse.org or P.O. Box 422 Lubec, ME 04652.