Clifton House hotel had been razed in 1939 and the Northeast Harbor Fleet purchased the dock for access to the water on the east side of town. They rebuilt the dock. “The new Clifton Dock was made an ‘official station’ of the Cruising Club of America and a fueling resource for boats of all kinds, and has had a marine supply store, which made it invaluable to yachts.” -"History of the Northeast Harbor Fleet" by Joseph L. Grant, published by Sawyer Cove Press, Seal Cove, ME, 2006, p. 85.
Description: Clifton House hotel had been razed in 1939 and the Northeast Harbor Fleet purchased the dock for access to the water on the east side of town. They rebuilt the dock. “The new Clifton Dock was made an ‘official station’ of the Cruising Club of America and a fueling resource for boats of all kinds, and has had a marine supply store, which made it invaluable to yachts.” -"History of the Northeast Harbor Fleet" by Joseph L. Grant, published by Sawyer Cove Press, Seal Cove, ME, 2006, p. 85. [show more]
“Summer tourists who enter Mount Desert by the way of South-west Harbor are liable to receive very unfavorable impressions of this beautiful island. While approaching the shore, the most charming views are obtained, but after the first salutation their majesties the mountains become shy, and when the steamer reaches the pier they are wholly lost to sight. On landing, an ancient, fish-like smell is found to pervade the air around the dock in the vicinity of the lobster-boiling establishment, while the general aspect of the place is hardly inviting. By crossing the harbor to the Ocean House, the view of the mountains may indeed be regained, yet the prospect from the east side is tame.” - Rambles in Mount Desert With Sketches of Travel on The New-England Coast by B.F. DeCosta, p. 45 - 1871
Description: “Summer tourists who enter Mount Desert by the way of South-west Harbor are liable to receive very unfavorable impressions of this beautiful island. While approaching the shore, the most charming views are obtained, but after the first salutation their majesties the mountains become shy, and when the steamer reaches the pier they are wholly lost to sight. On landing, an ancient, fish-like smell is found to pervade the air around the dock in the vicinity of the lobster-boiling establishment, while the general aspect of the place is hardly inviting. By crossing the harbor to the Ocean House, the view of the mountains may indeed be regained, yet the prospect from the east side is tame.” - Rambles in Mount Desert With Sketches of Travel on The New-England Coast by B.F. DeCosta, p. 45 - 1871 [show more]
Blue Hill Bay Light also known as "Sand Island Light" or "Eggemoggin Light" The station was established in 1857 and the present lighthouse built in 1857 – discontinued in 1933. The 1857 keeper’s house and the 1905 oil house are still standing. The original optic lens is a Fourth order Fresnel. "In the mid-nineteenth century, the town of Ellsworth, on the Union River north of Blue Hill Bay, was a thriving lumber port, and a lighthouse was needed to guide mariners into the southern entrance to the bay. Abraham Flye sold Green Island to the federal government for a light station in 1855 for $150, and the light was established on the west side of the island in 1857. The lighthouse also helped guide mariners into the eastern end of Eggemoggin Reach, which connects Penobscot Bay with Blue Hill Bay." - “Blue Hill Bay Light” by Jeremy D'Entremont, New England Lighthouses: A Virtual Guide, 1997-2009, Accessed online 12/27/12; http://lighthouse.cc/bluehillbay/history.html Keepers from the Southwest Harbor / Tremont area were: Howard P. Robbins (1837-1918), keeper from 1882 to 1888, and Roscoe G. Lopaus (1845-1912), keeper from 1889 to 1895.
Description: Blue Hill Bay Light also known as "Sand Island Light" or "Eggemoggin Light" The station was established in 1857 and the present lighthouse built in 1857 – discontinued in 1933. The 1857 keeper’s house and the 1905 oil house are still standing. The original optic lens is a Fourth order Fresnel. "In the mid-nineteenth century, the town of Ellsworth, on the Union River north of Blue Hill Bay, was a thriving lumber port, and a lighthouse was needed to guide mariners into the southern entrance to the bay. Abraham Flye sold Green Island to the federal government for a light station in 1855 for $150, and the light was established on the west side of the island in 1857. The lighthouse also helped guide mariners into the eastern end of Eggemoggin Reach, which connects Penobscot Bay with Blue Hill Bay." - “Blue Hill Bay Light” by Jeremy D'Entremont, New England Lighthouses: A Virtual Guide, 1997-2009, Accessed online 12/27/12; http://lighthouse.cc/bluehillbay/history.html Keepers from the Southwest Harbor / Tremont area were: Howard P. Robbins (1837-1918), keeper from 1882 to 1888, and Roscoe G. Lopaus (1845-1912), keeper from 1889 to 1895. [show more]
Town – Tenants Harbor, Maine Geographic Location – Eastern side of Whitehead Island Longitude & Latitude - 43º 58' 47.3" N - 69º 07' 30" W Station Established - Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 and established in 1804 Present Lighthouse Built – 1852 Original Optic – 1857 – Third-order Fresnel Lens Other Buildings - 1891 keeper's house, 1891 oil house, 1888 fog signal building. boathouse with launchway, schoolhouse, granite wharf, tractor garage (former fire pump house) Height of Tower – 41’ Height of Focal Plane – 75’ Disposition – Active – maintained and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard - owned by Pine Island Camp Automated - 1982 NRHP - 88000154 Keeper History: 1875 Ellis Dolph Isaac Grant 1902-1919 Elmer Staples Reed (1873-)
Description: Town – Tenants Harbor, Maine Geographic Location – Eastern side of Whitehead Island Longitude & Latitude - 43º 58' 47.3" N - 69º 07' 30" W Station Established - Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 and established in 1804 Present Lighthouse Built – 1852 Original Optic – 1857 – Third-order Fresnel Lens Other Buildings - 1891 keeper's house, 1891 oil house, 1888 fog signal building. boathouse with launchway, schoolhouse, granite wharf, tractor garage (former fire pump house) Height of Tower – 41’ Height of Focal Plane – 75’ Disposition – Active – maintained and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard - owned by Pine Island Camp Automated - 1982 NRHP - 88000154 Keeper History: 1875 Ellis Dolph Isaac Grant 1902-1919 Elmer Staples Reed (1873-) [show more]
"ROCKLAND BREAKWATER LIGHTOUSE TO BE RAZED - The U.S. Coast Guard has announced it will demolish the unmanned lighthouse which has stood on the breakwater at the entrance to Rockland Harbor since the beginning of the century, but will retain a light tower there as an aid to navigation. The above photo was taken in 1904 when Captain Clifford Robbins of Southwest Harbor was the keeper. The lighthouse and keeper's dwelling were erected after the breakwater was completed in 1899. The 4300-foot breakwater, which protects Rockland Harbor from easterly storms, was eighteen years under construction and required 732,227 tons of stone for a barrier 65 feet high, 175 feet wide at the base and 45 feet at the top." Newspaper article – unknown source – circa 1963. The lighthouse was not demolished. Clifford M. Robbins, appointed keeper of the lighthouse on November 1, 1902, was born to Howard P. and Eliza Susan Tarr Robbins on February 23, 1880 in Tremont, Maine. Clifford married Pansy B. Lovering on December 26, 1899 in Tremont, Maine. Pansy was born in 1881 in Concord, New Hampshire. Clifford M. Robbins and his wife, Pansy B. Lovering Robbins both died in Bar Harbor, Maine in 1967. Clifford's father, Howard P. Robbins was also a lighthouse keeper there. “Howard P. Robbins, his son Cliff, Cliff’s wife Pansy, and their daughter Evelyn lived at the light on the breakwater. There was a stationery engine with a double 8 foot flywheel used to operate the compressor for the fog horn. Cliff taught Pansy to operate the engine so he could go scalloping in the winter. A Coast Guard inspector had to come out to inspect and be sure she was strong enough to operate it. One time her dress caught in the flywheel. She went head over heels. It didn’t hurt her any – she was young then and she was rugged and tough.” – Ralph Stanley – September 26, 2007 Rockland Breakwater is registered as a National Historic Place - 81000067
Description: "ROCKLAND BREAKWATER LIGHTOUSE TO BE RAZED - The U.S. Coast Guard has announced it will demolish the unmanned lighthouse which has stood on the breakwater at the entrance to Rockland Harbor since the beginning of the century, but will retain a light tower there as an aid to navigation. The above photo was taken in 1904 when Captain Clifford Robbins of Southwest Harbor was the keeper. The lighthouse and keeper's dwelling were erected after the breakwater was completed in 1899. The 4300-foot breakwater, which protects Rockland Harbor from easterly storms, was eighteen years under construction and required 732,227 tons of stone for a barrier 65 feet high, 175 feet wide at the base and 45 feet at the top." Newspaper article – unknown source – circa 1963. The lighthouse was not demolished. Clifford M. Robbins, appointed keeper of the lighthouse on November 1, 1902, was born to Howard P. and Eliza Susan Tarr Robbins on February 23, 1880 in Tremont, Maine. Clifford married Pansy B. Lovering on December 26, 1899 in Tremont, Maine. Pansy was born in 1881 in Concord, New Hampshire. Clifford M. Robbins and his wife, Pansy B. Lovering Robbins both died in Bar Harbor, Maine in 1967. Clifford's father, Howard P. Robbins was also a lighthouse keeper there. “Howard P. Robbins, his son Cliff, Cliff’s wife Pansy, and their daughter Evelyn lived at the light on the breakwater. There was a stationery engine with a double 8 foot flywheel used to operate the compressor for the fog horn. Cliff taught Pansy to operate the engine so he could go scalloping in the winter. A Coast Guard inspector had to come out to inspect and be sure she was strong enough to operate it. One time her dress caught in the flywheel. She went head over heels. It didn’t hurt her any – she was young then and she was rugged and tough.” – Ralph Stanley – September 26, 2007 Rockland Breakwater is registered as a National Historic Place - 81000067 [show more]