Islesford is a small village located on Little Cranberry Island three miles off the Maine coast near Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park. Islesford Neighborhood House (INH) is at the center of the village and sits on a parcel of land originally purchased in 1912 for $282 by Mabel Tuttle and Walter Hadlock, Trustees of the “Islesford Neighborhood House Lot.” A joint venture of native islanders and the summer colony, the INH was built by Alonzo Bryant in the winter of 1913 and officially opened the following summer. For over 100 years it has been the hub of community life on Islesford.
Being the primary gathering place on a very small island, the Islesford Neighborhood House is used for a multitude of purposes. It houses the Library and Historical Society; it hosts all manner of cultural presentations, including films, lectures, concerts, the annual Literary Evening, the Islesford Theater Project and the community variety show, Wits & Nitwits; it has been used by the Islesford School for gym class, 8th grade graduation and other events; the Islesford Fair happens in and around it; community suppers, socials and dances, as well as weddings, baby showers and memorial services all happen under its roof; the upstairs is used for exercise and yoga classes; it is home to regular meetings of the various bodies of the municipal government, and biannually it is the location of the Town of Cranberry Isles Annual Meeting. In short, if it happens on Islesford it probably happens at the Neighborhood House.