Presented to him
as a donation for the American Lighthouse Foundation, the group that owns
and has been restoring the Little River Lighthouse, which is located on a
15-acre island in the town’s harbor, was the Little River Lighthouse Radio
Log Message Book from May of 1971 to September of 1972, a Safety Award
Certificate given to the crew of the lighthouse for the year 1972, and
various other written memos.
Also donated was a scrapbook made by Myron Corbett, whose father Willie
Corbett was the lighthouse keeper at Little River from 1921 to 1939. The
scrapbook appears to have been started in 1908 and ended in 1972.
Gordon and Ruth Corbett, residents of Cutler and Yarmouth, Maine, who have
donated other items pertaining to Little River Lighthouse in the past,
donated the items. Gordon Corbett is the son of Myron Corbett and grandson
of Willie Corbett who was the lighthouse keeper.
Harrison said that although most of the hand written notes in the Radio Log
Book are mundane, it is of extreme historical importance to the history of
the lighthouse as it gives a clear indication of weather reports, messages
from headquarters, records of ship sightings, new rules going into effect
and orders given to the crew of the lighthouse. Plus, many of the notes were
initialed by Coast Guard keeper Al Vachon who has returned to Little River
for the past two summers as a volunteer helping with the restoration of the
lighthouse.
The Certificate of Achievement Safety Award, which was personally signed by
R. W. Goehring, Rear Admiral, United States Coast Guard, is of special
importance said Harrison, who sent on to say, “After a copy is made, we will
frame the original and display it at the lighthouse for visitors to see.”
Harrison, who is a historian and has written several lighthouse books and
hundreds of stories about lighthouses, was most excited about the scrapbook,
which contains numerous newspaper stories about Maine sea captains,
shipwrecks and other Maine maritime news that he says, “Has literally
disappeared into the pages of time, to now again resurface. To know who
actually made this scrapbook of newspaper clippings places even more
historical significance on the book.”
Of special interest in the scrapbook was the nearly full-page newspaper
story about the retirement of Royal Luther who served for 53 years with the
United States Lighthouse Service and was directly involved in the
construction of nearly 80% of Maine and Massachusetts lighthouses after
1875, including the double keepers house at Portland Head Light that stands
there today. Interestingly, this article was written by Robert T. Sterling,
the last civilian lighthouse keeper to serve at Portland Head Light.
In the many yellowed-with-age newspaper clippings, in the scrapbook, was a
nearly full page 1942 story, also by Robert T. Sterling, titled, “Little
Known Cutler and Its Nearby Light Station,” a statement that could still
hold true today, 64 years later.
According to Harrison the biggest challenge the nonprofit group has is
raising money to help preserve the many old documents like these that are
being donated. He is appealing to the public for financial support, as he
says, “To preserve yesterday’s history for tomorrow’s generations.”
To learn more about the nonprofit American Lighthouse Foundation or make a
donation to their many lighthouse preservation projects or to help them
preserve old documents like this and support their Museum of Lighthouse
History you can email us at
info@lighthousefoundation.org, mail at P.O. Box 889, Wells, Maine 04090
or by calling 207-646-0245.
Posted: 9/19/06
