The Walk That Stays With You: The Story Behind MaineBound Designs’ Marginal Way Canvas Print

By MaineBound Designs | Ogunquit, Maine Wall Art Series

There are some walks you take once and never forget. The Marginal Way in Ogunquit, Maine is exactly that kind of walk. For just over a mile, a paved path hugs the edge of the rocky Maine coast, with the wide Atlantic Ocean crashing against the cliffs on one side and wild sea roses and bayberry bushes lining the other. The air smells like salt. The sound of the waves never stops. And every few steps, a new view opens up that makes you want to stand still and just look. When MaineBound Designs set out to find the perfect subject for a coastal Maine canvas print, the Marginal Way wasn’t just a top choice — it was the only choice.

A Path Born From Generosity

The Marginal Way has a story as beautiful as the walk itself. In 1925, a man named Josiah Chase Jr. did something remarkable. He owned a mile-long strip of prime oceanfront land in Ogunquit, and instead of building on it or selling it, he donated it to the town. His gift gave the public something priceless — free, open access to one of the most stunning stretches of coastline in all of New England.

The name “Marginal Way” comes from the path’s position right at the margin — the edge — between land and sea. Over the decades, community members cleared the trail, paved it, and added benches so visitors could sit and take it all in. More landowners donated additional sections, growing the path to its current length of 1.25 miles between Perkins Cove and the Ogunquit Village beach. After powerful storms damaged sections of the path in 1947 and again in 1991, the local community raised the funds needed to repair and restore it each time. In 2010, local leaders founded the Marginal Way Preservation Fund to make sure this beloved trail would always have the resources to survive whatever the Atlantic could throw at it.

Today, the Marginal Way draws hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. It is one of the only public oceanfront footpaths of its kind in all of New England — a true treasure that has been kept free and open to everyone for a full century.

🌊 A Century of Coastal Beauty

The Marginal Way has been open to the public since 1925 — making it one of New England’s oldest protected coastal walking paths. Along its 1.25-mile route, visitors pass more than 36 benches, dramatic cliff views, rocky coves, tidal pools, and the charming harbor at Perkins Cove. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a recognition of just how special this stretch of Maine coastline truly is.

Why MaineBound Designs Chose the Marginal Way

At MaineBound Designs, every piece of artwork begins with a simple question: what places in Maine make people stop and catch their breath? The Marginal Way comes up again and again. It is the kind of place that changes people. You might arrive stressed from a long drive, thinking about a dozen other things — and then you step onto that path, and the ocean takes over. By the time you reach Perkins Cove, something has shifted. You feel lighter. You feel present. That is a rare and powerful thing, and it is exactly what great art is supposed to do.

There was also a visual reason the Marginal Way was impossible to pass up. The iconic stone overlook. The simple wooden bench facing the sea. The jagged rocks below, wet with spray. The deep blue of the Atlantic stretching all the way to the horizon. These are bold, graphic images — the kind that translate perfectly into the retro travel poster style that defines the MaineBound Designs collection. Strong shapes, clean lines, and a color palette pulled straight from the Maine coast: ocean blue, sea-glass green, warm sandy cream, and the deep gray of coastal granite.

The Art of the Retro Travel Poster

The retro travel poster style reached its peak between the 1920s and 1950s, when artists created vivid, graphic images to lure travelers to destinations by train, ship, and automobile. These posters were designed to make a place feel like a dream — bold enough to stop you in your tracks, beautiful enough to make you want to go. They didn’t rely on photographs. Instead, artists used flat color, dramatic composition, and careful simplicity to capture the feeling of a place, not just its appearance.

That approach is a perfect match for the Marginal Way. This isn’t a scene that needs a thousand details to tell its story. A stone-lined path. A bench. The open ocean. A wide sky. Those few elements say everything. MaineBound Designs’ illustration brings that scene to life with warm, inviting colors and clean artistic lines that feel both timeless and alive — a vintage soul with a fresh, modern energy.

Printed on premium, durable canvas with eco-friendly, non-toxic latex inks and sustainable FSC-certified materials, this piece is made to last. The canvas texture adds real depth and richness, giving it a gallery-quality finish that looks just as good in a beach cottage as it does in a downtown apartment.

Available Sizes to Fit Your Space

The Marginal Way canvas print comes in four sizes, so you can find the perfect fit whether you have a small accent wall or a wide open space to fill:

Each print ships with rubber dots on the back for easy, stable hanging right out of the box.

More Than a Print — It’s a Feeling You Can Keep

Ask anyone who has walked the Marginal Way what they remember most, and they’ll probably pause before answering. It isn’t just the view, though the view is stunning. It’s the combination of everything — the salty breeze, the sound of the surf, the way the path curves around the headland and suddenly opens up to a wide sweep of open ocean. It’s the feeling of slowing down in a world that rarely slows down. That feeling is worth holding onto.

For people who have visited Ogunquit, this canvas print is an instant reconnection to that magic. Hang it in your home and you’re back on that path. For those who haven’t been yet, it’s an invitation — a window into one of Maine’s most beloved corners. And for anyone who calls southern Maine home, it’s a daily reminder of why they chose this place.

It also makes a truly meaningful gift. Whether you’re shopping for a beach lover, a Maine regular, a hiker, a travel art collector, or someone who simply needs a little ocean calm on their walls, this print speaks to all of them. It’s personal, beautiful, and rooted in a real place with a real story.

To explore more Maine-inspired artwork from the full MaineBound Designs collection, visit MaineBoundDesigns.com and discover prints that celebrate the coast, the mountains, the history, and the quiet magic of life in Maine.

Bring the Maine Coast Home

The Marginal Way has been welcoming visitors for a hundred years. Generation after generation, people have walked that path, sat on those benches, and watched the Atlantic do what it always does — crash, recede, and crash again. It never gets old. MaineBound Designs has captured that enduring beauty in a piece of art that belongs on your wall.

Whether you’re looking for the perfect Ogunquit souvenir, a coastal accent for your home, or a gift that tells a story worth telling, this retro travel canvas print delivers exactly that.

Ready to bring the calm of the Maine coast into your everyday life? Visit the MaineBound Designs Etsy Shop at MaineBoundDesigns.com and order your Marginal Way canvas print today. Four sizes, fast shipping, and a 100-year-old view waiting to find a home on your wall.

MaineBound Designs is a Star Seller on Etsy, proudly rooted in Maine and dedicated to creating artwork that honors the beauty, history, and spirit of the Pine Tree State.