There’s no question that, at the center of this image, that is a “dock” and not a “pier.” It’s officially the Brooklin Town Dock. I’ve heard that some think it’s squat and ugly. In isolation, maybe so. However, within its chosen place, it’s a valuable feature of a picturesque Maine working harbor.
When a Maine lobster boat is tied up to that Dock, a very pleasing composition is completed. The Dock is bordered by a small recreational and picnic area, a beach that provides good summer sunning and bracing swimming in very clear water, and a parking lot with a portable restroom facility. There also is a float docking system that is launched beside the Dock in the summer for small boats to tie up.
Note that, unlike many piers, this hard-surfaced Dock is wide enough and strong enough to accommodate trucks for loading and unloading lobster-trapping and scallop fishing equipment. It also can support heavy, mechanized grapple trucks that can install and remove booms, masts and chain-net “drags” (dredges) on fishing vessels.
The Dock is at Naskeag Point, the end of a beautiful peninsula that, itself, is on a beautiful peninsula named the Blue Hill Peninsula. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on March 8, 2025.)