ISLESBORO — Is that island in Waldo County or Knox County? An alleged boundary line snafu by a cartographer in 1941 has led to a continuance of maps identifying the islands off of Islesboro as being in Knox County. For as many as 80 years, locals have ignored the accidental distinction because boundary placement on a map never retracted Islesboro’s connection to Waldo County.

This week, Wednesday, February 2, 2022, however, the cartography line is getting its moment at the discussion table.

The meeting, hosted by the Maine Land Use Planning Commission (LUPC) and attended by officials from both counties, is not expected to change the jurisdiction of those islands off the southern tip of Islesboro, even though they are situated between Knox County’s towns of Camden and North Haven. Instead, the meeting is a response to an assumed everything-is-accurate position.

Last year the U.S. Census Bureau distributed letters to all towns and counties verifying that no boundary issues existed, according to Dale Rowley, director of Waldo County Emergency Management Agency.

A local reply that yes, there is an issue, triggered a response from the Maine Office of GIS (Geographic Information System). Known as MEGIS, this organization collects and handles geospatial data and maps under the branch of Maine’s Office of Technology.

The Islesboro southern archipelago consists of several unoccupied islands and one used by a private resident (Lasell Island). Regardless of county, Rowley doubts that elements involved in any future emergency response to the area would change.

“Lasell Island has been acknowledged as part of Waldo, but services have come from Camden,” he said.

Look for a modern map online of Lasell (spelled Laydell on an archive map) Island, and the following information will appear:

Islesboro and its islands have a history of altered identity. Though historical data can become misspoken or even drop away as the decades and centuries evolve, the history document “Islesboro History 1764 – 1958” provides the following:

Incorporated into township in 1789 – the year of George Washington’s inauguration – “Islesboro has been in the following counties: Lincoln, Penobscot, Hancock, and Waldo, first being a part of the Commonwealth of Mass. Until 1820, when town voted to be a part by itself, Islesboro voted to remain as a part of Mass.”

When Maine became a state in 1820, Islesboro came with it. They elected representation to the Maine Legislature in 1827.

Waldo County was created in 1827 from sections of Lincoln and Hancock counties.

And, according to the history document, Islesboro remained neutral during the Revolutionary War.

“English soldiers came from Castine and traded with our people here,” said the book. “The English did quite a bit of trading here in vegetables, etc.”

The neutrality came from a lack of population on the island, kept that way by an early ban on motorized vehicles as a way of promoting the island as a summer tourist resort. The first motor vehicle didn’t make an appearance (legally) until 1933, brought by the first fire chief, Pearl Fairfield; however, the first telephone was installed at Pendleton's Store in 1891.

Not bad for an island group that – geographically – has been all over the map.