Lubec (luːˈbɛk ) is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. It is the easternmost municipality in the contiguous U.S. (see extreme points of the United States) and is the country's closest continental location to Africa.
The town, with a population of 1,237 at the 2020 census, is home to Quoddy Head State Park.
Located on a peninsula overlooking an ice-free harbor, the town was first settled about 1775. Originally part of Eastport, it was set off and incorporated on June 21, 1811, and named for Lübeck, Germany. Following the War of 1812, Lubec was the site of considerable smuggling trade in gypsum, although principal industries remained agriculture and fisheries. By 1859, there was a tannery, three gristmills and nine sawmills; by 1886, there were also two shipyards, three boatbuilders and three sailmakers.
From 1897 to 1898, the town was the site of a swindle in the sale of stock in the Electrolytic Marine Salts Company, the brainchild of Reverend Prescott Jernegan and Charles Fisher of Martha's Vineyard. Jernegan claimed to have developed a method of using "accumulators" to get gold from sea water, and bought an old grist mill to turn it into a factory. The scheme attracted an abundance of investors, who were all too eager to funnel money into the company after being promised astronomical returns. In the summer of 1898, work was suspended without explanation. Jernegan and Smith vanished, and the fraud was gleefully exposed by newspapers across New England.
Lubec reached its population peak in the 1910s and 1920s, hovering a little above 3,300. Since then, the population has generally been in a gradual but steady decline. As of 2020, its population had fallen to 1,237.
Image:General View of Lubec, ME.jpg|General view {{circa|1910}}
Image:Soldiers' Monument, Lubec, ME.jpg|War monument in 1908
Image:Bank Square, Lubec, ME.jpg|Bank Square {{circa|1908}}
Image:LUBEC, LOOKING WEST FROM CAMPOBELLO ISLAND. SMOKE IS FROM MC CURDY'S PACKING PLANT WHERE HERRING IS SMOKED - NARA - 550322.