Shelburne

Shelburne, about two-thirds of the way down the Lighthouse Route, has a frozen-in-time appearance that many travelers love. It was settled after the American Revolution, when 10,000 Loyalists briefly made it one of the largest locales in North America—bigger than either Halifax or Montréal at the time. A smaller, temporary influx of Americans changed the face of Shelburne again in 1994, when film director Roland Joffe and crew arrived to shoot his version of The Scarlet Letter. The movie, starring Demi Moore, was an unequivocal mess, but the producers helped tidy up the town and raise awareness about its rich architectural heritage. Today’s waterfront district looks much as it did when it was laid out in the 1780s, and many of the existing structures date from that period.