In 1925, this was the largest sardine factory on the Atlantic Coast, owned by L.D. Clark & Son. And Eastport was the "Home of the American Sardine," as that is where sardines were first canned in the United States, beginning in 1875. By this time the plants numbered 10. This factory was 250 feet long, employed 500 men and women, and packed 4,000 cases of 100 cans each daily when there were herring.
This photograph is from the Atlantic Fisherman Collection.
Ice tongs were used not only in moving large blocks of ice in and around the ice house, but also by the person delivering ice to residences before there were refrigerators.
Ice houses in Rockport Harbor provided cold storage until the ice demand increased in the summer time. Sawdust was often used to insulate the ice blocks. Many schooners are laid up for the winter.
After the ice was brought to the ice house, it was conveyed in and out of storage. Often, ice was moved by gravity in chutes, or by human power; but later, powered conveyors moved the ice.
A weir is constructed each season by pounding in vertical piles, then crossing the piles with long straight sticks, then filling in vertical branches. When fish swim to the weir leader (the straight part that comes out from shore), they are diverted into the pound, where they swim around in circles. The seine net is set inside the weir to catch the herring.
Weir fishing was practiced by Maine's Natives, and was especially popular further east where big tides made putting a "Fence in the Water" relatively easy.
