The Maine Hermit

Charles Coffin, “The Maine Hermit” was a well-known tourist attraction in the Freeport, Maine area and lived nearby on the road to The Desert of Maine. The sandy area was formed after the Tuttle family moved there and began farming in the late-1790s; over the course of 100-plus years, poor land management followed by tending sheep caused the top soil to erode leaving behind a forty acre plot of sand-like glacial silt.

Coffin a true Yankee character lived at his shop filled with oddities and antiques that was open to the public on the well-travelled Desert of Maine Road. For more exposure he used his unique Chevrolet motorhome and signage along with his early Brush automobile on the area roads to drum up business.

Coffin although he was a bit of an eccentric apparently supported himself by running a novelty and curiosity shop that displayed his collection of guns, antiques and oddities. Amidst the collection, he sold folk art creations, painted handmade wooden flowers, oil paintings, and charged a 15-cent admission fee.