McCurdy Smokehouse, Lubec, Maine

I had the distinct honor and pleasure in 2024 to work under contract to the Maine Historic Preservation Commission on behalf of the historic McCurdy Smokehouse, located on the water’s edge in Lubec, the easternmost town in the United States. The MHPC asked that I work on revising the 1993 National Register of Historic Places nomination of the Smokehouse complex, in hopes of elevating it to national significance. I gladly said yes.

Herring is the traditional fish for the coast of Maine, and smoking was carried out using the methods and architectural manifestations in England and Europe since the 14th century. This traditional approach smoking herring was in use from the Canadian Maritime provinces through Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and other northeastern states through the early and mid-19th century, but by the late 19th century it remained only in Downeast Maine. Smoked herring, along with the production of sardines–using smaller, younger herrings than were smoked–became a part of the culture of Downeast Maine.

By the 1970s, only one company remained in the U.S. that smoked herring in the traditional way, John McCurdy’s Smokehouse on the waterfront in downtown Lubec. Continuing to operate through the 1980s, McCurdy hit a roadblock in 1990 when the FDA imposed new regulations for smoked fish to prevent contamination. Despite never having had an issue with regular testing, McCurdy was forced to comply by implementing costly upgrades, or cease operations. Finally in 1991, the last smokehouse in the United States to produce smoked herring using methods dating back centuries closed.