Since I first set foot in Rangeley as a boy in 1958, this will be my 62nd year as a vacationer, and eventually a property owner. Over those decades, I have been privileged to know a lot of terrific Rangeley residents, many of whom are no longer with us.  I have long believed that growing up in a rural town is a lot healthier than doing so in a city, and the high percentage of exemplary Americans- in all facets of life-  who were raised in such towns supports my theory.  Considering the regrettable events occurring in so may of our major cities, the allure of small town life is even more compelling.  This has long been the case for those who have been hooked on the Rangeley Region.

After deciding, for the time being,  in the mid 1970’s  not to build in Rangeley, partly due to the harsh new LURC restrictions, I spent about 10 years buying, building and selling on Maine’s southern coast. As previously mentioned, my wife, Cindy, and I had finally had enough of the congestion there, so I took her up to Rangeley for the first time.  She immediately loved it, but hated the long ride from our home, south of Boston. It didn’t take long for her to realize that Rangeley’s long drive from Boston and other large northeast cities was a large part of what has kept this beautiful valley town whatit is today.  The town has not changed much at all since I first saw it in 1958!   Oh, sure, there have been changes,  but the character of Rangeley remains the same.  Development has been orderly, with but  few eyesores.

Great examples are the new restaurants.  Sarge’s was tastefully renovated and expanded.  The Furbish Brew House opened in an historic home, with the owners going to great lengths to preserve its original detail. The Portage in Oquossoc is in a newly built structure which nicely reflects local architecture.  Forks In The Air, appearing as if it had been there for decades,  perfectly occupies what was once Scribner’s Hardware.  The older resorts, like Bald Mountain Camps, Loon Lodge, etc., are Rangeley originals. All of them fit naturally into their surroundings, totally unlike the frequent monstrosities one sees in more populated areas. (Forgive omissions- there are many more!)

In fact, the year round resident population has only gone up- with a couple of peaks and valleys- by a tiny amount since 1900, when it was 961.  It peaked in the 1930’s and 40’s, just below 1500, then falling to its low of only 941 people in 1970. Since then, Rangeley’s population slowly grew to 1168 in 2010, then falling to 983 in 2018. Astoundingly, the population was almost exactly what it was almost 120 years ago.    Of course, this hardly applies to the numbers of seasonal residents.  The many farms visible in older  photographs are all but gone, replaced by developments of  generally tasteful vacation homes.  The “rusticators,”  who traveled for days to arrive in Bemis, Oquossoc, or Rangeley on steam trains, to unload their trunks and spend the summer, are also gone. The grand old hotels met the same demise as the legendary resorts in the Catskills of New York.

However different in their modes of vacationing, the old time hotel goers had one big thing in common with today’s owners and renters of vacation homes.  They found something very special about this little town in the western Maine mountains, and were willing to put up with a damnably long trip to get there!  100 years ago, it was days on a train to spend the summer. Now, it can be long hours of driving in traffic to spend a weekend or a week or two. Either way, it’s a commitment that most people from major northeast population centers are unwilling to make, and that’s a GOOD thing!

Probably, the 100 or so miles from the nearest turnpike exit has something to do with it.  The distance has not only controlled population growth, but also has blessed the region with folks who appreciate Rangeley’s simplicity and peace, as opposed to the over developed vacation areas further south. How different would the town’s demeanor have fared, were it an hour and a half from Boston!

Ironically, as much as we love Rangeley- and wish we could spend more time there- we most enjoy the process of leaving and returning, time after time.  Just as I did as a kid in the 1950’s, I always look forward to my next trip to Rangeley.  One derives a sense of comfort when returning, year after year, to something more than a proud town; a state of mind, perhaps, that remains intact in a world gone mad.

“Whenever I need to leave it all behind,
Or feel the need to get away,
I find a quiet place,
Far from the human race,
Out in the country.”           – Three Dog Night

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