General, including maps: Town of Swan's Island. This is the official Swans Island web site. About Swan's Island (Hancock County) by Burnt Coat Harbor Real Estate. Includes detailed map.  Area map (courtesy of Maine State Ferry Service) Shows basic driving routes to Ellsworth and on to the islands.

Tidal charts for the area: choose Bass Harbor for the one closest to Swan's Island.

Wikipedia facts about Swan's Island.

Historic Maps of New England: Swans Island, ME. University of New Hampshire, Dimond Library, Documents Department & Data Center. United States Geological Survey maps for 1904, 1943, and 1945. About this map collection.

Inventory (not the records themselves though) of Maine Town Records for the 1800's, compiled by Jeff Brown and courtesy of the Maine State Archive. (Use the "find in page" function of your browser to find the Swan's Island records.)

Jim Stone of Ruskin, FL, spends time in the summer on Swan's Island and maintains this set of island links. Note in particular the link to Maili Bailey's articles about Swan's Island life and people.

Particulars:

Swan's Island ferry schedule (Maine State Ferry Service)

Maili Bailey's Swan's Island Vacations handles summer rentals, including the Borei house.

Saturn Press. Letterpress to visit in Atlantic, and cards to buy. Located just past the library.

Swan's Island's Burnt Coat Harbor Light, also known as Hockamock Head Light. 

Swan's Island Lobster and Marine Museum.

Miscellany:

"Islanders weigh cyberspace links." June 1997 Casco Bay Online article by Eric Blom, about cyberspace activity on Swan's Island.

Live Lobster Cam. Every two minutes, a new live view from inside a lobster trap, what fun. 

"The Penobscot Bay Marine Resources Collaborative represents a multidisciplinary approach to ecosystem management research." Includes an animated cartoon representation of the lifecycle of a lobster as well as other easy-to-read information.

The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine at Orono "is a cooperative program of research and education with the lobster industry ... intended to help conserve and enhance the [lobster], thereby ensuring the continuance of a strong and healthy industry in the state and the region."

Erich Kunzel, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra conductor, has long had a house on Swan's Island. He taught in the Music Department at Brown University when I was a student there, and I knew him through my involvement with the Universty's singing groups. I assume that he found Swan's Island when he was at the Pierre Montuex School for Conductors and Orchestra Musicians in Hancock, ME. 

Sarah Knock paints some Swan's Island scenery (though none are specifically featured in the summer of 2004).

In August every year, windjammers stop in Burnt Coat Harbor for the annual Sweet Chariot music festival.

WERU-FM Community Radio. "We offer diverse music (folk, jazz, Native American, electronica, blues, modern rock, reggae and world beats, just to name a few) and progressive information, news and public affairs, much of which cannot be found elsewhere on the radio dial. We stress local programming, but also provide nationally distributed programs to meet the needs of our  listeners." 89.9 Blue Hill and 102.9 Bangor. I love it!

Maine Public Radio. Here's where you get the national stuff. 

Off-island:

Southwest Harbor. Nearest off-island place for groceries, bank, gas, drugstore, restaurants, hardware, beer & wine (Swan's Island is dry), some pretty good touristy stuff too. Stocking up beforehand in Ellsworth is cheaper, if not always better. (On-island store for essentials.)

SouthwestHarbor.com. Links to local photos and stories. Site by Chad Gilley.

Port In A Storm Bookstore in Somesville, ME, on the route to the Swan's Island ferry. It's a lovely store, light and airy, with couches for reading and resident cats. I always stop there en route.

Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor. "Celebrating Maine's Native American Heritage [through] 10,000 years of Indian culture, history and art." I enjoyed my visit there. The baskets still being made for the museum are particularly noteworthy.

Acadia National Park "on the rock- bound shore of Mount Desert Island."

Island Artisans: "Bar Harbor's most complete selection of quality arts and crafts by over 75 of Maine's leading artisans." The gallery is owned and operated by local artists. The site also provides links to some of the individual artists. Gorgeous stuff!

Downeast Guide, by AcadiaNet. "Your guide to vacationing in Maine." The focus is the mid-coast region radiating southward from Bar Harbor.

Island Institute links "focusing on the Gulf of Maine, particularly the 14 year-round island communities off the Maine coast." Extends to North Atlantic concerns generally. 

Maine State site: a compendium of informative links.

Jaime Wyeth: Maine images for sale.