There is no better place to enjoy a glorious summer on the Maine coast than here on Grindstone Neck.

The Grindstone Association offers superb recreational facilities rivaling those of the best private clubs. These facilities include the nine-hole Grindstone Neck Golf Course, a swimming pool with convenient bath houses, and four tennis courts, two with a Har-Tru (clay) surface and two with Novacrylic (hard) surface similar to that of the U.S. Open. The hard courts were stunningly resurfaced in 2017 with the international standard blue-on-green color scheme. One of those courts was enhanced by the addition of lines for two courts for Pickleball – now the fastest growing sport in the country.  The Association also owns and maintains a playground for children and offers unlimited access to miles of public walking trails throughout Grindstone Neck.  

The easternmost part of Acadia National Park is located just to the east across Winter Harbor, on the southernmost tip of the Schoodic Penninsula.   Park passes may be purchased at the new Schoodic Woods Campground office just outside the park entrance.  Bustling Bar Harbor is a 40-minute ferry ride to the west, across Frenchman Bay -- just 20 minutes in a fast runabout.

Since this community was founded, over one hundred years ago, families have enjoyed a way of life that has disappeared from much of the country. Here children can still safely ride their bikes to town for ice cream or a visit to the five-and-dime store.  Children and adults can enjoy a wealth of activities or simply rusticate in a scenic and convivial environment.

The Grindstone community was founded by a group of gentlemen from Philadelphia and New York in 1890.   The Grindstone Golf Course is one of the oldest courses in Maine, dating back to 1891.  Many of the “cottages,” as those grand houses were once known, that you see around the Neck today were built around that time, as were a 250-room inn, two churches, a stable, a casino, a saltwater swimming pool with one hundred cabanas, and the Winter Harbor Yacht Club. The community went into eclipse after the Depression and World War II. 

A revival began in the 1980s, with new houses being built and new families coming to enjoy the Neck’s marvelous attributes.  Though the inn, stable, casino, and saltwater pool are gone Grindstone Neck is thriving once again.

There are two separate but related organizations on Grindstone Neck, the Grindstone Association and the Winter Harbor Yacht Club.  They coordinate their calendars of events and share many of the same members.