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American Lighthouse Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 565
Rockland,
Maine 04841
Phone: 207-594-4174
Fax: 207-596-1091
info@lighthousefoundation.org
The American Lighthouse Foundation is a
Non-Profit 501(c)(3) Organization dedicated to the
preservation of America's historic
lighthouses & lightships and
their heritage.
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Perkins Island Light – Then & Now -- Glimmers
at the Maine Lighthouse Museum
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Ask the average person where Perkins Island Lighthouse in
Maine is located and chances are the correct answer will be as elusive
as the ebbing tides. Thanks to a hardworking commitment to community
education, the intrepid volunteers of the Friends of Perkins Island
Lighthouse are slowly raising the profile on one of Maine’s obscure
treasures.
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Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
Perkins Island
Light Station on Maine's Kennebec River
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From February
through July 2008, visitors to the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland
will be able to learn about the intriguing history – past and present, of
Perkins Island Lighthouse, which is situated on an island in the Kennebec
River opposite of Parker Head, Maine.
A temporary exhibit using vintage still imagery and tidbits of fascinating
history reveals the 1898 beacon’s one-of-a-kind history and tells a story
that despite the site’s secluded existence, it is currently receiving some
much needed TLC thanks Friends of Perkins Island Lighthouse (FPIL), a
chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF).
Restoration and care of this water-locked historic site isn’t the only
mission of The Friends of Perkins Island Lighthouse. The group also works
hard to share the intriguing history of this 1898 beacon, both past and
present, in the local communities along the Midcoast of Maine.
Station established in 1898…23 foot octagonal wooden tower…41 foot focal
plane…automated in 1959…flashing red light every 2.5 seconds, with two white
sectors.
Charles L. Knight,
a former lighthouse keeper in the bygone United States Lighthouse Service,
noted in the 1935 book Lighthouses of the Maine |
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Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
Jane & Rod
Beaulieu stand next to a new temporary exhibit at the Maine Lighthouse
Museum that highlights the history of Perkins Island Light Station and
the current
preservation
efforts to preserve the site
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Coast
by Robert Thayer Sterling that “My first station was on the Kennebec
River and, as it was spring and the warm sunny days had begun, I thought
everything was rosy for me. But I had no idea what an isolated section I
was going into or the hardships I would have to put up with.”
“It is well
not to forget that the Kennebec River has its rough spots and,
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when it is rough
and plenty of sea, a small boat has no excuse for being out in it.”
On Friday, February 1, Jane Beaulieu, president of Friends of Perkins Island
Light, installed a display about the island and its light at the Maine
Lighthouse Museum in Rockland. The display primarily consists of mounted
historical and modern photographs. They are accompanied by brief
explanations of the history of the island, the work done so far by Friends
of Perkins Island light, and the restoration plans for the future. The
display will continue at the museum until the end of July 2008.
Thanks to the extensive research done by Perkins Island board member
Joyce Lyons, with the support of Lynne Jones and the Georgetown Historical
Society, the historical record of Perkins Island Light is remarkably
detailed and complete. The period photographs and the narratives about life
on Perkins Island give an appreciation for the difficulties of the times and
provide a valuable resource for the restoration effort.
Perkins Light is located on an island near Marrtown in the Kennebec
River. It is the most southern of a series of four lights commissioned at
the end of the nineteenth century whose purpose is to mark the channel for
the ships constructed in Bath. The entire island is an undeveloped state
park and is geographically a part of Georgetown. The buildings are on the
western side of the island and can only be seen from across the river in
Phippsburg.
Founded in 2003, Friends of Perkins Island Light, a chapter of the
American Lighthouse Foundation, has been responsible for the maintenance and
restoration of the light station. Members of FPIL have provided moral and
financial support as well as their labor in preserving and restoring the
station. For further information or inquiries about membership please
contact FPIL president Jane Beaulieu at PO box 376 Georgetown, ME 04548 or
at
perkinslight@hotmail.com.
Posted: 4/11/2008 |
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