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August 4, 2025

Brooklin center to house collections of WoodenBoat founder and its longtime photographer

A sailboat is on the water. Photo / Courtesy Benjamin Mendlowitz, Friend Memorial Public Library Brooklin maritime photographer Benjamin Mendlowitz has produced tens of thousands of images.
By Laurie Schreiber

The coastal Hancock County town of Brooklin is small in population but large in the imagination of wooden boat lovers.

WoodenBoat magazine and the WoodenBoat School have been an attraction for decades. The magazine, founded by Jon Wilson, published its first issue in 1974 and the WoodenBoat School started in 1981.

Brooklin is also homeport for Brooklin Boat Yard, Hylan & Brown Boatbuilders, Brion Rieff Boat Builders, Eric Dow Boat Shop and related businesses. Indeed, a roadside sign boasts the community — year-round population of 820, double in the summer — is the “Boatbuilding Capital of the World.”

Now, a plan is in the works to create a maritime research center at the local Friend Memorial Public Library to house Wilson’s extensive maritime research library, along with more than 155,000 images from award-winning maritime photographer Benjamin Mendlowitz.

“It’s a hidden goldmine,” Robert Baird, the campaign chair, told Mainebiz.

The effort is expected to be funded by a $2.5 million capital campaign.

Funds raised will build an addition to the library, create the Anne and Maynard Bray Maritime Research Center within the addition, pay for building maintenance and renovations and create an endowment to cover operation expenses. Brooklin residents, the Brays have long connections with WoodenBoat and maritime endeavors.

“Jon Wilson donated his wooden boat library, 6,000 volumes collected over 50 years, that will be the basis of this center,” Baird said. “The addition was planned first and the center came about because of Brooklin’s wooden boatbuilding history and heritage.”

A person is going inside.
COURTESY / WILSON/STREETER FAMILY
Jon Wilson, considered the guru of the wooden boat world, is seen here around 1981.

Unlike maritime collections in museum settings, the collections will be accessible to the public and are expected to be attractive to boat aficionados, students, writers, researchers, owners and would-be owners. 

There’s the potential to add other private collections of materials and photographs related to wooden boat and ship design, construction operation and history. 

“A lot of people have made inquiries about bringing their resources to this center,” said Baird. “It’s something we’re very interested in.”

Wilson sold WoodenBoat magazine and related publications, as well as the school, in January 2022. It is now owned by Publisher Andrew Breece and the magazine's longtime editor, Matt Murphy. 

6,700 books

As a boatbuilder prior to founding WoodenBoat magazine, Wilson began to assemble a private library of maritime books and associated materials. 

In 2022,  he sold WoodenBoat Publications but retained his library and began to consider relocating it, hoping to keep it intact and available. 

His library contains about 6,700 books, some rare and irreplaceable, that are fully cataloged using a slightly modified Library of Congress system. The books can be accessed either by a traditional card catalog or electronically by using an Excel file.

Topics include maritime and yachting histories, fisheries, seamanship, boatbuilding and repair, boat designers and design theory, rigging and sails, engines, and all types and sizes of watercraft. Also included are rare old books, yacht registers and often-used periodicals such as Forest and Stream from 1873, the Rudder from 1904 and Yachting from 1917.

The collection also contains runs of other periodicals, many complete, such as Ash Breeze, American Neptune, Catboat Bulletin, Classic Boat, Friendship Sloop Days, Nautical Research Journal, Motorboating, Watercraft, Fore & Aft, Skipper and Small Boat Journal. There are several shelves of National Fisherman and Transactions of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.

Unique to the library are 43 vertical file drawers containing technical information, correspondence, designer and builder biographies, clippings and copies of the design pages from the Rudder, Yachting and other maritime magazines filed by designers’ names such as John Alden, Sparkman & Stephens and L. Francis Herreshoff.

155,000 images

For the past 42 years, Mendlowitz has created the Calendar of Wooden Boats. Friend Memorial Public Library accepted his offer to include his entire slide collection — some 155,000 images — at the Maritime Research Center.

The slide collection covers the years 1979 to 2005, before he shifted from film photography to digital. The slides have been cataloged, labeled, prioritized and stored in archival sleeves.

Six fire-resistant, four-drawer file cabinets that house the slides are included in the offer and will fit inside the library expansion. After the collection arrives, it will undergo selective scanning and cataloging by library staff and volunteers. 

Mendlowitz’s slide collection covers boats and yachts that date back to within five years of the founding of WoodenBoat magazine. 

The plan is to add his digital images from 2005 onward, to be accomplished in stages.

Upgrades

The plan for the funds includes overall upgrades. Established in 1912, the library’s pressing needs include installing moisture control and ventilation systems, window repairs and a range of other maintenance. 

The addition will have a connecting walkway, a glassed-in reading area, a reading gallery, the Maritime Research Center, additional shelves and stacks, improved handicapped access, a larger areas for children and teens, more space for programs, exhibits and events, new technology areas, staff office and workroom, increased storage, an additional restroom, new outdoor event and gathering space and a new area for off-street parking.

Contextual design

The quiet phase of the capital campaign launched in 2022. The public phase will be announced this month, said Baird. The campaign has reached about $2 million.

The exteiror of a bulding has white siding and a lawn and path.
Photo / Courtesy Friend Memorial Public Library
An addition to Friend Memorial Public Library will double its footprint and house a maritime center and other spaces.

A design for the addition is underway and the hope is to break ground by January. 

The 2,000-square-foot expansion will double the library’s size. In addition to housing the maritime collection, there will be public reading and meeting spaces.

The design for the addition comes from Elliott Architects in Blue Hill.

“We’ve done extensive research to plan for the building and keep the new building contextual to the community,” said Baird.

A general contractor hasn’t been selected yet. 

“All of this has come about because demands on the library have become so great in our community,” said Baird. “It’s a small town library that’s extremely well used.”

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