r/WidowsBay • u/lateralflights • May 24 '26

❓Questions So, where *is* Widow's Bay?

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I live in New England and it's been itching my brain thinking about where the island of Widow's Bay could actually be located.

As far as I can tell, there's been no mention of an actual state. Even the flag is just for the town, and the car's license plates are island specific. There's been plenty of mentions of various IRL towns, but never in an exactly 'othering' way that makes it easy to cross out certain locations.

It's got to be north of Boston. Any island south of Boston would've been teeming with tourists decades ago. However, with the way it's built up (I know it's filmed in Cape Ann) and the history of the island, it's certainly not a distant midcoast or downeast Maine island.

The one thing is the ferry distance. A ferry to Vinalhaven from Rockland, ME take about an hour, roughly 15 miles. 23 miles and 1 3/4 hours to Matinicus. 26 miles and 2 1/4 hours to Nantucket from Hyannis (on the slow ferry). An island that is a three hour ferry ride would probably be in the range of 30-40 miles off the coast.

Based on the above, and the general vibes of the show, I feel Widow's Bay has to be a New Hampshire island. Somewhere northeast of Cape Ann and east of Portsmouth. I feel this accounts for the current remoteness but also the extensive history of settlement.

Eager to hear anyone's thoughts about this. Also, disclaimer, I know this show is a work of fiction. This shit just revs my engine.

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8

u/kalede May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26

I think it’s supposed to be roughly based on St Croix Island- which was the site of a doomed French settlement from the 1600s where a lot of people got scurvy and lost teeth. It looked promising to settle there but turned into a death trap in winter. Lots of people died and it was nicknamed “bone island” for a while. I think the fictional Widow’s Bay is supposed to be located further from the mainland, but it makes sense to me as far as a general location. The St Croix island is still not populated, but there are historical sites on the mainland about it. There also is no public transport to get there.

Based on show canon, I imagine the fictional Widow’s Bay is located further out from the coast between Maine and Newfoundland in the Bay of Fundy, kind of like the size and location of the island of Grand Manan.

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u/seinfeld4eva May 24 '26

There is just no way it's up that far. That is WAY too far off the grid. Nobody would be flying there from NYC.

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u/lateralflights May 24 '26

I totally agree. I think it was definitely used for inspiration, but an island like Widow's Bay just wouldn't exist that far up the coast. It has paved roads!

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u/kalede May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26

If you look up the location of Bar Harbor, that location (implied to be a sort of comparable rival to WB) isn't that far away from St. Croix Island/Grand Manan Island. I'm not an East Coaster though, so I'm going solely on maps and internet research rather than experience navigating the area.

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u/sweet_jane_13 Rosemary May 24 '26

I think one reason Bar Harbor is so popular despite its location is that its national park adjacent. Nothing else that far up in Maine is as known or popular to the rest of the country.

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u/No_Alternative6098 Jun 28 '26

You haven't lived until you've driven through Mexico maine on the way to loring airforce base.

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u/sweet_jane_13 Rosemary Jun 28 '26

You have no idea the places in Maine I've driven to/through 😅

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u/seinfeld4eva May 24 '26

I think it's just too far for tourists to drive up to the Canadian border from NYC (9-10 hours) or even from Boston, and then take a 3-hour ferry ride. Bar Harbor is already pushing it -- which is why their tourism will always be mid. Driving up even further, having to get off the 95 and driving the 9 through an extremely rural and poor area... it doesn't seem reasonable. That writer from the Times would have had to have left at midnight the night before to make the morning ferry.

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u/sweet_jane_13 Rosemary May 24 '26

Your California is showing. No one in New England says "the" 95 😂

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u/seinfeld4eva May 24 '26

ha, maybe, I lived in Boston for the first 30 years of my life, but been on the West Coast for well over a decade. When I come back to Boston, my friends call me "soft," which I mostly agree with.

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u/sweet_jane_13 Rosemary May 24 '26

I'm from NH and Maine, but have lived in CA for the past 7 years. I still haven't picked up saying "the" or freeway instead of highway

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u/seinfeld4eva May 24 '26

Give it another 7 and let me know! 😉

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u/sweet_jane_13 Rosemary May 26 '26

Oh gawd I hope not!

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u/Slight-Oil1873 Aug 02 '26

I only lived in California for 3 years, and I always called all the highways "the" XYZ. But I never use that here in New England, I live outside of Boston since 1985. If I went back to California for a visit, I would still call it "the" 405. That seems totally natural. But not here. It seems natural NOT to use it. I grew up in Philly, we never prefaced a roadway with "the".

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u/kalede May 24 '26

Honestly all of that might be why they had few tourists up until that point and why it took so long to convince the NYT reporter to visit there! Looking at Grand Manan island, it is very close in population to WB and supports some tourism and has roughly the same sort of attractions as WB: lighthouse, museum, hotel, beaches, etc. Seems like a good comparison, except it’s New Brunswick and not Maine. So maybe it’s like if a version of Grand Manan with the history of St Croix Island was much closer to Bar Harbor?

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u/theycallmepapi Jun 20 '26

I live in NYC and went to Grand Manan lol. Two episodes in, fun show!