Samuel D Hanson School - Crescent Yearbook (Buxton, ME)

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10 THE CRESCENT away. Twin lights are shining from two granite towers about sixty yards apart. ln a storm of January 19, 1856 the sea made a complete sweep over the rock which washed away everything moveable. The keeper of the lighthouse happened to be away at the time and his fourteen year old daughter wrote to a friend, dAs the tide came, the sea rose higher and higher until the only 'I endurable places were the light towers.H For four weeks no one could land on the rock but not once did the lightkeeper's daugh- ter let the light go out. Monhegan lighthouse is the most fortunate, because though it is far from the mainland, it stands in the middle of a summer resort. As this also isla popular art colony the walls of the keeper's house are adorned with works of art. . Pemaquid Light stands at the very tip of the peninsula. lt was established in l827 and was connected with the keeper's dwelling place. The heavy surf at all times can be heard pound- ing oeaselessly against the rocks. . Sequin was one of the earliest lighthouses on the coast built in l795 at the cost of 96300. At Cape Elizabeth are also twin lights shown from towers three hundred yards apart. Boon Island has a granite tower, one hundred thirty-six feet high and as the isle is low it appears to spring up from the sea. lt was this lighthouse that inspired Celia Thaxter to write The Efatch of Boon lsland. Today people are wont to think that lighthouses and light- ships are things of the past - almost as ancient as the clipper ships that they guided past rocks and shallows, - but nothing could he farther from the truth. Hardly a day passes without the chance of some keeper to do an act of bravery, or to aid some one in distress. Years will pass and numerous improvements will take place but it is needless to say that we will romembsr the sturdy picturesque lighthouses - the sentinols of our Raine coastline. Natalie Wiggin'i5 I V -+.- ' H 1.25 '-. f. :5f:1:1f2:5f. lg., -. A I -'-1-11:34 f -:l'-K . '- 1. .g:-.47 L- - T. , 'M ,:-'- 1-Sgr-.4 ' :I3.lZ'Z.: ' - ' - -' - ' :. .4:-:-.-' ' . ' fn ' - '5gt-:Qp:-:,.- ., ,214 - ff' ' . -s1..:..1.zaz ' Iizaazfzlci ': '-E'EfZ237'Z11'-3' 2' 7' 1,1 ., . Ezggzzgg-: '-1 -5, ag:-:g.g:,, I zzz' -i f X . ,.--A 4 , V-1 -. 14.,-mf:-.N at ji,..g.,.. , '. 4, ,WSJ , - . 1-2'-'-

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THE CRESCENT 9 Many fierce and bloody battles surround all the Forts of Maine. Picture a small family struggling to live - being on the verge of success when suddenly attacked by Indians and killed. This is only one of the instances and reasons why Maine was in need - of fortifications. If all the romance, danger, death, disease, courage, and bewilderment could be told which took place within these forts it surely would portray an adventurous and courageous story. Life goes on with its struggles and tales - everyday new in- ventions are created - making this life of ours more easy, but the memory of the pioneers will live on. Rae Elaine Bartlett'45 'Our Maine Lighthouses At the time when clipper ships, and three masted schooners were in use carrying cargoes from little Maine towns to European cities and coming back again with a larger cargo for their people large rocks and shoals were the cause of many accidents. In the year l790, Massachusetts undertook to build a lighthouse to be ceded to Maine. It stood on Portland Head at the entrance of the Harbor. Originally, this lighthouse was composed of rubble stone and stood about thirty feet in heightg but in 1865 it was enlarged to eighty feet. The buildings at this station were so close to the military batteries that their structures suffered from air concussion during gun practice. Windows in the keeper's dwelling place were forced out and chimneys had to be inspected before the building of fires but finally a way was devised to avoid the damage, and now our lighthouses stand firm. As one approaches from Canada the first lighthouse is West Quoddy Head which stands on the eastern most point of land. In the one hundred and sixty miles from the light to Portland there are about eight large lighthouses, and ships, as they come to harbor, can often see two or more lights. These include Libby Islands, Moose Peak, Petit Manan, Mount Desert, Matinicus Rock, Lonhegan Island, Pemaouid Point, Sequin and Halfway Rock. Just to the southeastward of Portland are the Portland Lightship and Cape Elizabeth Lights, and going southwestward one comes upon Boon Island. Along two hundred miles of coast there are about twelve hundred and sixty-six aids which means an average of six to tho mile. They consist of ninety-nine lights, nine hundred and thirty-one buoys, and one hundred and forty-nine fog signals. The Petit Manan Lighthouse is about one hundred and nineteen feet high and is composed of granite. Mount Desert Light is on a rocky islet about twenty milos from the mainland and is the most exposed lighthouse on the Atlantic Coast. During suvfre storms the sea breaks ever the rock. The light is shown from a sturdy tower, that has a broad base and thick walls and stands fifty-eight feet in the air. The rock is frequented by many birds, especially gulls which lay their eggs there. Matinicus Rock is eighteen miles from the mainland and is almost as much exposed as Mount Desert. There is no form of vegetation on the rock and the nearest port is twenty five miles

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