Episode 46 - Pemaquid Point Lighthouse
Pemaquid Point Lighthouse is another light that may be recognizable to the average American - it graces the Maine quarter! Another case of a rubblestone lighthouse falling apart, Pemaquid was rebuilt in 1835 and has withstood the test of time. Today, it suffers from the effects of the January 10th/13th storm along the coast of Maine, and needs your help to restore its historic fog bell house.
USLHS Storm Damage Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inkKRjnvvJs
Leave a review on our website: thelighthouselowdown.com
References:
- Maine town plans to rebuild historic lighthouse damaged by storm
- Pemaquid Point | USLHS
- Light Lists | USLHS
- Sanibel Lighthouse restored with new leg after hurricane damage
- Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Maine at Lighthousefriends.com
- Dunham Family Newsletter
- Pemaquid Point Lighthouse
- Lessons Learned from Maine's January Flooding | Thornton Tomasetti
- Acting in the Wake of Storm Damage to Maine Lighthouses.
0:00 Hi everyone, I'm Emily and I'm Vince and this is the lighthouse lowdown I have a question for you. Okay. Is it like a okay? Why do dogs float? Is the bark and bark floats Because they're good boys our Poor listeners. I know I just saw it and decided for our history buoy The intro into our history movie that just be a little joke time good boys. Yeah, so today I'm going to do a current event Sort of history buoy. Okay current history buoy nice, Sanibel Island You've covered that lighthouse before I think that was episode 34 We talked about how hurricane Ian hit it It was about 16 months ago and the leg was lost on Sanibel Island lighthouse It has four legs and one of them was knocked out by the keepers cottages that had swept out of the storm Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, one of them took out the leg as it was being swept out. So Nothing without you Trying to cling on wait Help me. Yeah, but it was still standing. Yes, and as of January 23rd, they replaced the lake finally
1:30 It has all four legs originally it had a wooden leg for the past like 16 months and now it has Officially had its cast iron leg put back on and they actually use the pieces from the old Leg to make a mold for the new leg. So yes Sanibel Pretty cool. You old peg leg. Yeah, cool. So that's a nice little update. Yeah, do you have any photos to show? Do you have a photo? Oh, yeah, the left is a picture of the wooden leg that it had for a long time That is a nice wood. Yeah, they did a good job on it They actually cared and then the cast iron leg being put on January 23rd. Awesome this year. I think after this They're going to focus on doing like a recoding of the outside and the inside of the lighthouse But they don't have any plans right now to replace the cottages, which is kind of a big bummer. Hmm it would be a huge undertaking and I Don't know. It would just be yeah. I mean a lot of what a cottage is Whatever that English is is valued in its history Yeah, exactly not necessarily what it does today Mm-hmm, like it still has its historical value and everything but they'd be replicas. They wouldn't be like restored versions I don't know there's value in rebuilding but I don't know how much effort they want to put towards that when they're still trying to recover from Yeah, okay. Can you remember what this type of tower is called? I can't Skeleton Skeleton tower Skeleton tower
3:02 I feel like there's another descriptor I'm trying to think of well where that you know the Cylinder that is the stairwell and oh, yeah the center, you know column. Yeah Pretty cool. I gave you an answer. So take it early. That's probably the right answer Okay, so that was my history buoy a little bit of current history for you and speaking of storm damage I'm going to launch into my episode today. The only reason I've been seeing this lighthouse It's actually all over my feed right now because of something that's happened recently No another January event that I will be talking about later, but we're gonna be heading to Bristol, Maine So another main lighthouse and going crazy on main lighthouses. It's not my fault. They just show up Okay Most of the lighthouses that I cover they just fall into my lap somehow like it's a listener suggestion or there's like current events going On or something like that. Yeah, usually I'm not researching lighthouses to cover They just kind of fall into my lap you mentioned that but you couldn't say anything else. What else is there to say?
4:04 What are you talking about? I mean around the house. Oh before this episode. Oh, yeah. Yeah so Go snow Sail to the coast of Maine in 1602 for areas to settle and I looked into the sky just before we started recording Cuz I was gonna leave it at that like he came here and found that there were it was already like a popular fishing spot For like Native Americans and like European people had already come over here. It's like it's not the first time Europeans have come over but it was the first When he came over here in 1602 is the first official recorded European excursion to Cape Cod Which is so weird because Vince and I are planning a Cape Cod trip right now We've decided that we're gonna go to Cape Cod Cape Cod. Yeah, and so what a weird thing He's the one who named it Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard. Oh Who is Martha Martha was his deceased daughter who was named after his wife's mom?
5:02 That's sad and when they crossed it it was uninhabited and it was covered in wild grapes. So we call that Martha's Vineyard That's really cool. Really awesome and Cape Cod was because there was a ton of fish So Anyway, he was considered instrumental to the founding of the Virginia Company and Jamestown because he was like the go-to guy for Boating excursions. I don't know the Virginia Company. Should I do you not watch Pocahontas Disney's Pocahontas? I've seen it when I was a child Virginia Company You have to remind me That's like an exploitory group or their shipbuilders or I want to say that they okay. I actually don't know I just know that they were behind sending everyone to Is it a dark history John Smith off to huh? Is it a dark history? I don't think it's very good. Yeah So Bart So Bart just noted that he came across Pemaquid Point, which is what we're gonna be covering today Okay, and it was already like inhabited with very friendly Native Americans who had come across Europeans already and knew like how to trade like they had furs and they were really friendly and Actually Bartholomew was the one who destroyed that Sort of good feelings. So by the time that the Mayflower came things were very hostile Americans because of how he treated them bars. So Bart Bart Bart Bart Bart shameful behavior Pemaquid Point was popular for fishing and stuff
6:36 But they didn't get a lighthouse until two centuries after that So it's like slow settling sort of thing and really just became this is a Native American inhabited area Um, I assume pretty much everything was Right, but okay. You're saying it was fishing. So it was like settlers were yeah, it was like a spattering It wasn't like an official settlement or anything like that But then over time over the course of two centuries it became something where they needed to add a lighthouse. So we got Pemaquid Point $4,000 was set aside for the light station. It was a rubble stone tower, which cool we don't Have good history of rubble stone lasting very long a keepers cottage with an enormous kitchen is what was mentioned I don't know what the purpose of that was but I actually have a picture. Here's a Pemaquid the station So it's really cool in this picture. You can see keepers cottage the tower and then in the back is the fogbell station First off. I like the fogbell station. I Don't know why I like the fence their white picket fence. Yeah seems entirely unnecessary They spent some time on it and then look at the ocean scary Yeah, very rough rough ocean area and this cliff is like pretty sloped, but I'm pretty sure it's like 40 feet tall Okay, so from this perspective, it looks like nothing. Yeah, it looks like we're right on the edge of the water But there's some distance all right. Even the picket fence is right up on the edge of where the rocks and Like the cliff stuff holding in the civilization, especially the like fog horton building. Look at that. It's pretty cool
8:09 It's photoshopped floating out there. I know I think it's because the chimney looks like it's going underneath of it. Yeah, what is it? I think it's from this perspective. Yeah, this is the current tower. It's not the one that we got in 1827 they bid it out in 1826 and I found a picture of the newspaper newspaper clipping that was put out like trying to get a bid or trying to bid construction for this lighthouse so 1826 that crazy some 22nd and they kind of just say what they're looking for and somebody is like I'll bid on it for this much nuts. That crazy like what a weird Casual way to have something like this constructed. That's crazy. I'm trying to read this part covered with copper as well as the Something in something they do. I'm sorry. I couldn't read it I thought I was gonna be able to read it as well as the rabbit it shuts into maybe some Sort of time we don't understand. Yeah, I Couldn't walls of the tower to be well pointed and whitewashed twice over outside and inside laid a deke of soap Stan soapstone So he's gone. I wonder if there's any typos. That's a deck. Oh, ah Damn it. Good work, or if a deke is a word. I don't know from the year 1826 I think deck is probably right. We don't need to sit here and try and decide pretty cool though. Sorry. Yeah, it is very cool
9:41 I got that from the US LHS as per usual as usual So construction was completed in November of the next year $500 under budget and fixed white light went into service But unfortunately this tower only lasted eight years before they needed a new one and they put the reasoning That salt water had somehow gotten into the mortar before it was applied to the lighthouse Yeah, and so it just kind of crumbled. Did we talk about this before with a different lighthouse? I bet I think we're all of the towers we've covered so far that have been rubble stone have not For very long. There's another I can't tell you all the details, but there's more construction of lighthouses that I'm doing research on oh, yeah in the past and Talking about sea water in the concrete will be something that comes up again for the cement. I guess okay interesting Yeah, we might have talked about it before but So they build a new tower It was conical granite white and a little bit like ochre coke s is what I kind of think of when I look at white and chubby Yeah, like lumpy American Affectionately we say lumpy but it's 30 feet to the lantern deck I think I read that it was 38 feet total Okay And had an octagonal lantern room and current the current keeper Dunham said a better tower and the lantern never was built in This state and then he also said also the lamps reflectors and apparatus is according to contract. Oh Why even meant why even throw he's like this is the best tower of all time and also the lamps are fine
11:18 The lamps are you know? Above and beyond I guess so here's a here's an old photo I didn't read a lot about anything other than chickens being raised on this land Mmm, but I'll mention later that it was very fertile soil. So, okay. There's a lot of a lot of vegetable and farming going on here That's a little property. Yeah, and this actually is a picture of the keepers cottage Before they painted it. I think they painted in 1875 to be white, which is what it is today But was that brick probably? Mm-hmm so keeper Dunham was the first keeper of this lighthouse and Served at Pembroke point for an a decade before he went back to farming which is what he was doing before this his sixth child Benjamin Franklin Dunham was born in the station and When his father died shortly after the new tower was constructed and he died inside the station So I don't really have the details on duty. Yeah. Well, he was his dad Keepers dad so I don't know if he went there for like care or if he was just like visiting and something happened But he was buried in a small cemetery near the light and by looking at the Dunham family history newsletter. I Found out that it was called Curtis Cemetery and I can't find it on Google Maps, but I'm gonna trust them They probably know what they're talking about probably on the property or says it's close close. So I don't know Well back then close was really close. Yeah like in the backyard So keeper Dunham was mentioned a lot because he first of all was the first keeper here for a whole decade and
12:50 also because he patented a way to keep the whale's oil in the lamp from coagulating or congealing in the winter and Congress ordered the Treasury to start implementing it in lighthouses Oh cool, but we don't really know exactly how much it was adopted or even what his patent Was really like yeah, it's like you can't find it. You know that it happened, but can't find the history of I've seen several sources that say there's no record of How well it was implemented and then another one was like we don't know what it was interesting. Yeah. Yeah, I mean Yeah patents have a pretty good history. I know there's so many records that was what kind of oil Whales oil in this lighthouse. I wonder if that's why it didn't matter It's because it changed the fuel source changed. Yeah, that's true. I don't know the whole history of that Like maybe they found that if it wasn't whales oil if it was something else some other kind of oil It didn't work as well or wasn't necessary or something. Yeah. Yeah, cuz whales oil Was kind of dropped off pretty quick. Wasn't it? I don't know the history. I think so I'll have to do that again. I covered kerosene Yeah, I covered beacons in like my second episode But I was a long time ago. Yeah, I know there's been several fuel oils. Yeah of different types Isaac who was keeper Dunham also built barns on the property. I'm not sure if they're still there
14:20 I didn't see them in the picture So I'm not really sure but he built barns and kept chickens and grew vegetables and everything He was actually paid by the next keeper one thousand one hundred dollars for the buildings. He built as as keeper so it was like Was he gonna tear them down or maybe the other the new keeper was Grateful and so he paid him like I'm paying for extra buildings Sounds like a lot of money Yeah, I know eleven hundred dollars in like the mid 1800s is It's weird for an individual to buy a lot of money An individual with the keeper to take responsibility and build these things Yeah, when it's a government job, right? Yeah, but I mean government property. I Feel like keepers aren't often. Well, gosh, I don't know. I'm gonna say it's not like they're fired often, but they are You know placed somewhere else often and later in history, you know talking about some of the readings I did for the West Coast Lighthouse Board Lighthouse establishment, I guess the board was writing some of those letters Yeah, and how they were, you know under inspection and it was like a military Placement you you shall sell the ox for at least $100 and send Handling yeah, no, like, you know do whatever you want to do, you know Well, if it benefited them although they didn't get the money so that's I'm saying It's government property, but you're building your own barn on it and then it's sold to another man who's taking the job
15:52 I don't know. Yeah, I never I think about that. There's probably more to it. Yeah, I bet secrets secrets He returned to farming in 1836 but returned three years later to be the first keeper of Nosset light. Oh nice. Yeah when it was still three sisters. Very cool done them Is it done them? I don't know There's Jeff Dunham is the comedian it's pronounced Dunham. I'm pretty sure you could be right then It's like Eastham and Chatham and all these towns I know but like I said one of them was not pronounced that way East Ham or maybe Chatham We'll find out I know I'm excited 1857 the light gained a fourth order for now lens and it was actually after It's a little picture of it still in action today It was after some guy who was notorious for crapping on Inspection reports. He just came and was just like everything sucks here. This this is you know, he was really picky Yeah, he came and said a lot of nice things about the lighthouse, but then I didn't make any notes about this I don't know why I didn't he said the purpose of the lighthouse was like obsolete. It was like, why do we have this?
17:13 He and he never said to take it out of commission, but he was like I would recommend moving it from ten reflectors to one like He was like this thing. I know it looks great, but I don't know why it's here So that's weird. Yeah, and then they gave it a fourth order lens. So they upped it in candle power I don't do was there any way that because I haven't read this I have to ask. Yeah, you might have read it like Interpreted it to where he's saying the ten reflectors is not necessary It needs to be one of larger magnitude or no see he was saying there was a new lighthouse that was built nearby You couldn't really see this light until you had gotten a certain point I know around the land and he was just basically saying I Don't know why we have this and then after that it was interpreted for me. It was kind of like Instead of suggesting that they get rid of the light they say he said we should lower the candle power If you're gonna keep it and then someone said nah, I said actually Increase it more power double it and give it to the next guy So that's how we ended up with our fourth order lens. I complain still working today So keeper Dunham was one of the like very few head keepers That were at this lighthouse and that was because like I mentioned it had very fertile soil. So it was great for Home live. I mean people brought their families here and then wanted to settle down like they weren't looking to go somewhere else
18:47 This was like a great place to have a family. Yeah grow crops and have livestock and everything I read that the The people who worked on the lighthouse tenders hated this station because there was nowhere to dock a lighthouse tender And so they'd have to pull up somewhere and like carry all the supplies that were to be delivered to the lighthouse from down below I mean surrounded by this very strange sloping cliff Yeah, but what are you gonna how you gonna build a stair or a ramp into that cliff? Yeah, and then a dock at the bottom Yeah, and normal cliffs they wouldn't use a crane or whatever. It's called Derek. Yeah to pull stuff up and they can't do that Cuz it's so sloped you'd be dragging. I feel like they should have built one of those like the tramways that we talked about in split rock Yeah It's still be It's still be costly and difficult even if you're talking about a pier way like a pier way Yeah, a pier or so about a boat is gonna dock. Oh my gosh My English is broken. You know have your coffee my back is gonna dock But you have to have those peers go into the Sea floor and if that rock keeps going. Yeah, good luck. Yeah, that's funny though lighthouse tenders I don't know that we've talked a lot about lighthouse tenders having opinions Yeah, it was one of the few times that I've actually seen commentary about it It must have been pretty widespread that people are like, oh no, we're delivering to Pemiqua it sucks sucks 1897 a brick engine house was built for a new fog bell which replaced the small one that had to be rung by hand
20:22 So it's supposed to be like a night. It was like a steam-powered striking mechanism, but it had to have been Problematic in some way because it was only two years later that they built The fog bell tower that we have today which was run by weights, which is you know that like white pyramid That was at the front. Yeah that housed the Clockwork the weights that went up and down for the boat and I actually found a picture of it in my main Lighthouses documentation of their past by Jay Candice Clifford and Mary Lewis Clifford cool This is what the book that I got from the United States Lighthouse Society. What's the US LHS? Listen to our last episode episode 45. Thanks. I'll just show you a little picture They have a diagram that was donated from the US Coast Guard I think but a picture of how the whole fog bell tower was built Wow, so there's a wow a hand-drawn sketch plans for a fog bell tower to be built on Pemaquick Pemaquid Pemaquid point drawings courtesy of US Coast Guard as an engineer I'm very intrigued by this. Isn't it the weirdest setup like It's the bell is outside unprotected. Yes Which is kind of surprising and then there's but you can't like the sound won't travel unless you have it It's facing the water. There's a dugout gutter Called out below the building and then this tower We've talked about has all this bracing and the weight is on a pulley system
21:55 So I assume you pull it up you load it if you will. Yes, and then it would fall wind the mechanism and I'm missing some component of rotation that would go strike the bell or maybe the bell would move back and forth. Oh I don't know what it's called the hammer one ball on the inside. I think it was supposed to be a striking. It's that It's like a mallet. Yeah, but I don't think it shows how the pulley system It's like a sledge hammer back and hits it. I'd be fascinated. I like mechanical. We should look it up. I think That's probably something we should cover But yeah, this is really cool image. I think it's that it struck every 10 seconds when it was wound I don't know how often it needed to be wound up, but pretty cool. That is cool Man the the work that people had to do to do something like that I know that is wild to me. It would be crazy and like them just building it and be like, all right Here's how you operate it and it's like, okay I can't ask anybody else about this You know, like you wouldn't be able to call some toll-free number and be like I'm having a problem with my belt tower Send it back to Amazon So, yeah, that's the house that we see today and I'm going to be talking about it a little bit later as well Somewhere around this time. They added brick veneer to the inside of the light tower. I don't know what brick veneer is Well veneer in general is like a case. Oh, yeah It's a it's a thin layer that covers. Okay, so it's often used to make them look nicer
23:25 It's not structural usually okay. It's like teeth veneers veneer teeth But why would they in veneer teeth are a layer over your teeth? Yeah, that's really an aesthetic Yeah, yeah, so how would they I? Mean you can do like cheap home renovation Backsplash veneer was it really just like for looking nice or maybe it was deteriorating as a way to see what covered it Yeah, kind of air quotes waterproof it again. I don't know I didn't look too deep into it, but at the same time they also added a cast-iron spiral staircase So that's pretty cool and these were restored in 2010. They did a big restoration. So this is when They did the veneer and start no that was sometime around like Almost 1900. Okay, but that that Cast iron is still there. Yeah, that's really cool That's another thing to learn more about because that's in a lot of lighthouse towers these cast iron stair treads and Handrails and stuff. Yeah for some reason that's fascinating because I would love to know who built them Like where did you order?
24:32 You had to order the stairs from because they're pretty intricate usually they're not very well built I had to order the stairs from because they're pretty intricate. Usually they're not just like yeah pieces of cast iron They're like they're nice. Yeah. Well remember keep disappointment The Oriole the ship that wrecked the Oriole had like several lantern rooms and all of the cast iron in it Oh stair towers and railings and stuff boom just in the ocean and it had come I love Cape disappointments over on the west coast for you We don't know and I think all of that had come from Boston or somewhere up Northeast. So it had come all the way around Oh, yeah, I'm saying that wrecked Tragic order all new irons again. Oh Just had to have been so there's nothing to do about it. It's just awful So Pimaquod point was one of the first lighthouses in Maine to transition to automatic and this was in 1934 so before the Coast Guard even took over Which is like really early. They don't there's not a light a lighthouse is mentioned that go fully automatic interesting Yeah, that's really good. Yeah, and it was around this time also that the light was switched to a flashing white and I couldn't find the exact date for that unless I'm misinterpreting the US LHS light list I think Yeah, I don't know. I'm pretty sure it was around the same time Okay, then it went flashing a few years after that actually a year after the Coast Guard took over Bristol residents voted to purchase the station
26:02 besides the light which remained with the Coast Guard and paid the government $1,639 over a period of four years that they could own it and Then it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and I actually I found a picture of the The application for that and it's just a lot simpler than I Expected it to be for some reason, you know, there's not really much to it. Yeah, it's a nice little form. Yeah, I It's stamped received February 2nd or 22nd Yeah, and then April 16th was when it was entered as a national as I like a historic places protection thing I thought about this. I don't mean to take anything away from Pemmaquid Pemmaquid. Yeah, that sounds wrong to me I'm reading it on screen. I look it up and it says Pemmaquid So not taking anything away from Pemmaquid point, but there are there's gonna be so many dang places including lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places and I did wonder how that how that works and what it means for protection and for Yeah, renovation and things because every lighthouse that we We mentioned it. This is a national historic place like wow Just like and this is when it was added, you know, it's like it's sort of a gift It is yeah lighthouses to be added like to go a step further than that is whenever you get Gosh, what is it called like preservation?
27:27 It's a landmark something national historic landmark. Okay, that's like the special one When most places are already in ash like registered places Yes, then it goes a step further by being a national historic landmark. I mean, I think that's the one where You're like one of the big dogs. Hmm Interesting. Anyway, that is cool. The tower itself was licensed to the American Lighthouse Foundation in 2000 so the Coast Guard licensed it to this foundation after the 2000 was like some kind of it's like main lighthouse Law or something that was passed I can't remember exactly what it was, but they had a couple of restorations over the years in 2007 for the exterior and 2010 for some of the internal components, which I talked about earlier But in 2007 they found a hidden window while we doing the exterior and I couldn't find a picture online But they said it was wild well documented They said the Masons noticed the granite work closing the window was of poorer quality than the original work Meaning that it was done later for some unknown reason so they just recovered it back up whenever they did the restoration the Uncovered the window uncovered it found it and then recovered it Like we're doing all the work they're like well, they're like we don't there's probably good reason for this bad vibes It's a haunted window So covered it back up and I couldn't find a photo. I'm sure if I sent some emails, I'd be able to hunt one down
28:59 I wonder if it's like a little port window or something. I don't know it didn't specify if it was Identical to other windows and like you know a lot of times they covered up windows that were Sea-facing that would get hit with like waves and bad weather and would break all the time So then they would just be like, okay, just cut we don't need it. Just cover it up. Yeah So maybe it was something like that Interesting, I think they said it was an east-facing east-facing window So a Pemacood points still running today white flash every summer points still running today white flash every six seconds from their fourth order lens still up there and It's featured on the state quarter. No way. Yeah main quarter has Pemacood point on it. Wow, that's cool Isn't that awesome? I've never seen that before. I know now I really want one and I feel like I've seen it before but before I became lighthouse Correza If I wouldn't really pay attention, I'm gonna be looking through all my quarters now trying to find Pemacood Well, they did a good job actually. Yeah, it looks great. It looks very real Realistic and accurate the fence is right. Of course They always do a really good job on the quarters with detail. I didn't know that Yeah, if you look at a quarter, they're always like even the eagle on like the normal one is really nice Well, but I mean this is not only is this highly featured, but it's accurate. Look at the stones variations. Oh They're missing the pyramid column on the fog house I Can't believe it absolutely
30:30 Someone had to fight to the death to get that picket fence, right? And then the stone work they had to like I cannot believe they put the quarter making mint Little evergreen tree Yeah, they went all out but that's really neat and birds and everything 1820 pretty cool I gotta keep my eye out now for one of those quarters So back to the reason why I kept seeing this lighthouse all over my feet This is like another current event thing January 10th of this year 2024 For lighthouses, yeah, maybe a little A huge storm hit the coast of Maine. I don't know if you heard anything about it I think just because I follow a lot of lighthouses is on Instagram. I saw a bunch of it But there's 79 mile-per-hour winds and a storm surge of up to five feet on top of an already historically high high tide so it was like a new moon or something and they're like, oh we have got really really Strange high tides and then they found out there was gonna be a big storm hitting and they're like, oh boy There's gonna be some serious flooding. Yeah, I'll show you on this graph, but They were supposed to be flooding even with just the high tide Like the tide was so high that it was gonna be flooding and then you add a five foot storm surge and suddenly everything is flooded Five feet is a lot of water elevation. Yeah, here's a picture shows Areas of minor flooding moderate and major flooding the blue is what they predicted
32:03 This high tide was going to be so you can see some of them are already in minor flooding area Then the red is where they had after the storm. So it was really really bad news for oh, these are days Oh, no because After that there was a storm January 10th January 13th a storm of very similar intensity hit Back to back like right after that they got two storms So a lot of lighthouses took damage and they did this whole I might have okay in on that It was a huge deal they did I mean there's still so much work and cleanup and Restorations to be done because of these back back storms But awful because of the combination of high winds and the crazy tide that there was these ginormous waves hitting Areas that weren't well equipped for getting hit with waves because normally the water is not up that high and that included a Pimaquid point lighthouse which Is far up enough that maybe they don't get as much of this like crazy weather when there are storms So the tower itself were made unscathed, but the fogbell house was severely damaged. I got a picture It's like half of its walls are missing. Oh my gosh. No, isn't that awful? That's terrible I bet there's rocks and all sorts shingles torn up. They have really They have pictures of from the back. You can see just the sunlight coming through. It's really wild. That's crazy There's two of the four walls are gone You can even see damage to the keepers house in the back parts of the slating side like the siding is gone
33:35 That is epic. Yeah, it's took some serious damage Luckily the bell the one that was forged in 1840s was not damaged You can see where it would be hanging up at the front of the lighthouse or the yeah fog tower wasn't damaged because they Removed it because the wood was rotting. Okay, so they removed it early In the year in August I think and so it didn't it wasn't like a subject of damage for the storm Is that the bell there inside? That's I think either a replica or I assume today. This is used for an exhibit. Yeah, you can go in and look at it. I mean not currently. Yeah, man That sucks. Yeah, so this was January 10th when this happened and they knew three days later They were gonna get another storm. So they were like we're going to be hauling ass trying to get this Protected so that it's like not just open getting hit with the same kind of storm It's still there after the 13th storm. So someone in a coat there. Oh, yeah Is it a little bit of scale? They sent a lot of people out. Yeah a lot of assessments I actually have a picture of it They did a damage assessment by helicopter because of a lot of lighthouses in Maine are like out on islands or like on Points and stuff that are not very accessible. So they sent And I have the track of the helicopter went to each lighthouse and like circled it taking Photos and like figuring out how extensive the damage was So they can kind of get a plan for how they're going to start restoring all of the lighthouses. It is so it's like 23 lighthouses they checked on and i'm pretty sure nearly all of them have taken damage
35:10 Some some degree or another and the us lhs made a video along with the american lighthouse Foundation, I think they teamed up and made a video that was just kind of showing like We need your help things Like this was really bad for lighthouses and like we're losing history. Yeah, we have to protect it We need to raise money So, um, I have the link to that video and i'm gonna put it in the show notes Okay, you and I can watch it if you want to but yeah, it's really sad lighthouses Man in the state that we're in they all they already need support just like Maintain let alone, you know facing storms and events like this. Yeah, that is uh, really unfortunate It's awful and there's nothing you can really do about it. I mean, it's not Because of negligence or anything. It's just being so close to the water. Sometimes freak storms happen and Well, it's the it's in some way. It's a sense of respect for lighthouses and yeah in the historical role because Maybe not a storm like that, but Maybe you know you'd lose a couple ships of people To Accidents if they didn't know if they didn't have use of a lighthouse. Yeah throughout, you know all of history That's a very broad statement Yeah, they're they're not in very protected places usually. Yeah, so this is the helicopter Yeah, this is a picture of the helicopter route and um, pemicoid point is on there But there's all I mean all over the place Especially all these that are really far out and if they didn't do this You would only hear from word of mouth from the keepers or whoever goes out there to check
36:44 What was the damage that was done to this light all the way out? You know mount desert rock like what happened out there. I don't know. We're gonna have to go check so it went to 23 lights total distance of 242.58 miles That's crazy. That's cool. They did that watch the video after this that shows all the lights Watch the video after this that shows all the pictures taken of I think it's like a three and a half minute video Yeah, okay. Yeah, that's how I knew about pemicoid point and why I decided to cover it's because really This it didn't number on main lighthouses this storm the series of storms So they're pretty desperate to start raising money I think they're doing an official disaster assessment to see like what the damage is besides lighthouses You know like the government's doing a disaster assessment so then we can find out more about what it's gonna take to Fix everything and rebuild because I know even in some places there's I mean There's a lot of history that was lost in this storm like boathouses historical boathouses and like some fishing shacks I heard there was only three left in this town and there used to be a bunch but like one by one they've just been Knocked out in this storm took out all three so they didn't have no more of these fish fishing shacks that were Like they said there was a lot of revenue brought to the city because people would get married here and take pictures in front of them Like for their wedding party and stuff. I'm like, oh my god, and there's nothing you can do to take it back You just it's like okay. I guess that's over. Let's see rebuild them, but it's not the same Yeah, there's something different about that preservation versus
38:16 Replica. Yeah, it's a sad note, but that's pemicoid point lighthouse. Yeah. Well, I'm glad it's still there and yes that is Yeah, the lighthouse itself. Sorry. No, you're good. I'm gonna talk now The lighthouse itself in that photo Didn't look too damaged no compared to the fog stayed stays Yeah, I think most of the damage that they wrote they found and recorded were not to lighthouse towers There's some but not like it's no towers Unsalvageable or anything no legs missing. Yeah They've seen worse. Well the Atlantic Ocean. It's one of those big ones One of the big ones. Things like this happen. Well, cool good coverage. Yeah, thank you I know our two of our close friends who may be on this podcast at some point Visited Maine and oh Alan talked to me about going up there He really liked it and you and I looked at the Acadia National Park recently when I was looking around Yeah, it looks beautiful that whole area. I would love to go to Maine. That'd be so much fun Yep, let's uh, I'll probably talk about it in our lighthouse tourism, which may or may not be an upcoming episode Excellent. I'm very excited. I guess I don't have anything to add on top of that. We're Check out of our check out our Instagram. We got some cool pictures on there We got a YouTube where you can watch as we talk through everything in the episode visually, which is kind of nice I don't know. You got anything dad? No YouTube is my my thing. I don't know YouTube is my my thing. I spend most my time on and I really appreciate everybody that's checking us out there
39:51 Yeah, that's all I ask it. Just check it out Yeah, we we put a lot of hours into this show. So I appreciate it and then the other thing I I do is linkedin and So far I haven't really done anything with LinkedIn But you know someone reached out to us recently on YouTube They made a comment and said hey, you know, I was actually a part of I'm gonna misquote her but forgive me She was a part of she's the brother light Yeah, she's a keeper at East brother light station during the kovat times and they lost power for Months. Yeah. Yeah, she had to deal with some stuff. So she I asked that she reach out to our email to talk to us But I also looked her up on LinkedIn and it's fun because it's like that's my idea with LinkedIn Is that it's gonna be a way that we can be professional in approaching people in the lighthouse community rather than you know me on Facebook or via Email just a random guy on an email. I can say well, this is what we do. Here's our little profile and Either way, so it's been fun to to have that and there's about 300 people that are following us on LinkedIn And aside from the professional stuff, it's always nice whenever listeners just message us on Instagram like send us a DM For anything at all or you can send us an email the lighthouse lowdown at gmail.com or you can go to our website There's a way for you to leave notes there that'll go straight to our emails or you can leave a voicemail, which is always fun We've gotten a couple of those now Yeah, we love to get messages from people we get a lot of fun stuff and hate since we're going to Cape Cod
41:27 If you have any suggestions for places we could go look, please do let us know. I'm kind of I'm overrunning our trip with stamps US LHS passport stamps. We'll talk about it. I think I think I'm pretty sure pretty certain We're I'm gonna cover lighthouse tourism as an episode. You think we'll cover how we're preparing for our Cape Cod trip Yeah, and we'll probably ask for some more input at that time. Yeah, so so we're super excited. We can't wait to go Yeah, thanks for joining. We hope everyone had a great time and come back to us again soon
Spotify
RSS Feed
Amazon Music
Apple Podcasts
TuneIn