About Larkin City
Larkin City, Maine is a fictional harbor town featured in the Collective Obsessions Saga by Deidre Dalton.
Irish immigrant John Larkin settled a twenty-two mile stretch of Maine coastline between the villages of Searsport and Stockton Springs, where he formally established Larkin Village in the spring of 1867.
John razed an entire section of dense pines to begin building his village. He collected small pebbles from the beaches and laid the stones to create a cobblestone main street. It gave the impression of entering a quaint old village, complete with gas lamps high on poles above the streets. John hired German men to keep the boardwalks and streets clean, sweeping them free of dirt and debris, and washed when it rained. By 1880, the village was home to just under one thousand people. Most of them were Irish immigrants, but there was also a scattering of Italians, French, Canadian, English, and a few Germans. The main street was a hub of activity, with cottages and larger houses spread out on the side streets.
The main part of the village was comprised of the Larkin Grocery Store, Quinn's Forge, the red-bricked city hall, and a small cottage that served as the sheriff's office. Larkin Village Hall housed the jail, although the small court room had yet to be used. John made a sign for the government building, carved into a huge rock and painted green.
When John died in 1926, natural population growth through the generations changed the name of his town from Larkin Village to Larkin City. By 1995, the population of Larkin City swelled to 26,350. More than a decade later, a surge of big-city dwellers moving to Larkin enlarged the township to nearly 40,000 souls. Many came to settle in the beautiful harbor town from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. The population increase was also aided by the student community at Larkin City University, the influx of medical and legal professionals and job opportunities with the Banshee Point Hotel, Golf Course & Winery.
While there are considerably more residents of Larkin City in the present day, the main part of town remains the same. There is the Amber Whale Tavern, Bruno's Café, Larkin Lumber & Hardware, the Wee Book Shop, an arcade, a movie house, and the old grocery store.
The Larkin Co-Op sells reasonably priced souvenirs to tourists: postcards, dolls, needlework, wooden crafts, locally made blueberry preserves, fish pastes, steaming accessories for cooking shellfish, ceramics, rugs, wreaths and tin-ware. Next door is the Nook & Cranny, which deals exclusively with local pottery, mainly tea services and trays, with a wide selection of teas, pastries and savories. A few blocks down is the Larkin Fish Shop, which produces more than thirty varieties of smoked seafood, including salmon, whitefish, herring, trout, sturgeon, mackerel and sablefish. Next door is Clyde's Billiard Hall, once a favorite haunt of local fishermen.
Several other shops line Main Street, including eateries that sell fish and chips or steamed mussels in brown paper wrappers, soaked in vinegar and salt; a breakfast takeaway that specializes in blueberry scones and ham with blueberry biscuits, and a tourist shop that arranges for group windjammer rides on the harbor and bike rides through the valley. There are also several produce stands open in the summer featuring home-grown Maine staples: fresh meats, blueberries and blueberry products, smoked seafood, teas, beer, pine nuts, maple syrup, and a vast array of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Just before Main Street turns onto the entrance of US Highway 1, a right turn leads to Bench Road. The paved street slopes toward the Larkin City Cemetery.
Megan's Graphics & Web Design is located on Larkin Harbor, while Colm Sullivan's retirement cottage can be found on Cove Hollow Circle in Larkin City. The cottage was the backdrop for Colm's ghostly visions of Molly Larkin more than forty years after her death (Quixotic Crossings). In 2008, the cottage was converted into an art gallery featuring Colm's work in 2008 by his great-great-great-granddaughter, Megan Larkin. (Megan's Legacy).
For more information, download the bonus guide About Larkin >
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Learn more about the Larkin Estate >
