History of Marshall Point Light, Port Clyde, Maine
© Jeremy D'Entremont. Do not reproduce any images or text from this website without permission of the author.
Click here for a gallery of Marshall Point Light photos on SmugMug (prints and gift items available)
Port Clyde, one of the villages that comprise the town of St. George, became a busy port in the 1800s with granite quarries, tide mills for sawing timber, shipbuilding facilities, and fish canning businesses.
Marshall Point Light with the original keeper's house, circa 1859. (National Archives)
The area later became a magnet for writers and artists. Sara Orne Jewett's popular book The Country of the Pointed Firs was written in St. George.
Port Clyde's harbor, sheltered by Hupper Island, was originally known as Herring Gut. Marshall Point, Port Clyde's southernmost extremity, is at the east side of the southern entrance to the harbor.
To help mariners entering Port Clyde's harbor or passing to the west into Muscongus Bay, Congress appropriated $4000 for a light station at Marshall Point in March 1831. The rubblestone lighthouse tower, completed in 1832, was 20 feet high to the lantern deck.
Port Clyde's harbor, sheltered by Hupper Island, was originally known as Herring Gut. Marshall Point, Port Clyde's southernmost extremity, is at the east side of the southern entrance to the harbor.
To help mariners entering Port Clyde's harbor or passing to the west into Muscongus Bay, Congress appropriated $4000 for a light station at Marshall Point in March 1831. The rubblestone lighthouse tower, completed in 1832, was 20 feet high to the lantern deck.
The tower and adjacent one-and-one-half-story stone dwelling were built at a cost of $2973.17. The first keeper was John Watts, a veteran of the War of 1812.
U.S. Coast Guard photo, late 1800s
Watts's son, Joshua, took over as keeper in 1835 and stayed until 1839.
David Bartlett was keeper at $350 yearly when I. W. P. Lewis inspected the station for his 1843 report to Congress. Lewis questioned the necessity of the light:
Marshall’s Point light stands at the southeast entrance to Herring gut, a narrow strait formed by the main land and a neighboring island. This gut affords shelter and anchorage for a few coasters and fishermen. The approaches to it from the sea are exceedingly dangerous owing to the great number of ledges and sunken rocks. It is remarkable that such a position should have been selected for a light-house, when there are so many others more important without one. One lamp only, of a proper form, is required here, instead of the seven, now used.
Lewis found the buildings in poor condition. The tower was “laid up in bad lime mortar, yet soft and penetrable with a knife,” and it was leaky and plagued by ice in its interior in winter. The roof, windows, and walls of the dwelling were leaky. All in all, the station was “well kept, but entirely out of repair.”
The extant 31-foot brick and granite lighthouse was built in 1857. The cylindrical tower is 24 feet from its base to the lantern deck. The lower half is constructed of granite, and the upper half is brick. The new lighthouse was fitted with a fifth-order Fresnel lens showing a fixed white light.
A bell tower with a 1,000-pound bell was added to the station in 1898. The fog bell remained in use until 1969.
The bell was returned to Marshall Point in the late 1980s and is now on display near the keeper's house.
David Bartlett was keeper at $350 yearly when I. W. P. Lewis inspected the station for his 1843 report to Congress. Lewis questioned the necessity of the light:
Marshall’s Point light stands at the southeast entrance to Herring gut, a narrow strait formed by the main land and a neighboring island. This gut affords shelter and anchorage for a few coasters and fishermen. The approaches to it from the sea are exceedingly dangerous owing to the great number of ledges and sunken rocks. It is remarkable that such a position should have been selected for a light-house, when there are so many others more important without one. One lamp only, of a proper form, is required here, instead of the seven, now used.
Lewis found the buildings in poor condition. The tower was “laid up in bad lime mortar, yet soft and penetrable with a knife,” and it was leaky and plagued by ice in its interior in winter. The roof, windows, and walls of the dwelling were leaky. All in all, the station was “well kept, but entirely out of repair.”
The extant 31-foot brick and granite lighthouse was built in 1857. The cylindrical tower is 24 feet from its base to the lantern deck. The lower half is constructed of granite, and the upper half is brick. The new lighthouse was fitted with a fifth-order Fresnel lens showing a fixed white light.
A bell tower with a 1,000-pound bell was added to the station in 1898. The fog bell remained in use until 1969.
The bell was returned to Marshall Point in the late 1980s and is now on display near the keeper's house.
Late 1800s (before 1895). National Archives.
The original 1832 keeper's house stood until 1895, when it was destroyed by a fire caused by lightning.
After the house was rebuilt in 1895. U.S. Coast Guard photo.
The Colonial Revival house built that year still stands. It had a water cistern that held 1,500 gallons; the cistern has since been removed.
Charles Clement Skinner, a Maine native and Civil War veteran, was the keeper from 1874 to 1919, an unusually long stint at a single light station. Skinner's first wife, Alfreda (Colby), had died in 1871, and he married Alfreda's younger sister Arvilla in the same year he moved to Marshall Point.
Skinner noted a number of maritime mishaps in the keeper’s log. On February 10, 1886, the steamer Cambridge was wrecked on a nearby ledge early in the morning. The passengers and crew all escaped safely. Some 40 schooners and hundreds of men rushed to the Cambridge on the following day to salvage what cargo they could before the vessel broke apart.
Skinner's daughter, Eula Kelley, was born in the first keeper's house in 1891. She lived until 1993, spending her last years in a cottage nearby the light station. Eula's sister, Marion Dalrymple, was born in the new keeper's house in 1895. Both sisters attended the opening of the restored keeper's house in 1990.
Charles Clement Skinner, a Maine native and Civil War veteran, was the keeper from 1874 to 1919, an unusually long stint at a single light station. Skinner's first wife, Alfreda (Colby), had died in 1871, and he married Alfreda's younger sister Arvilla in the same year he moved to Marshall Point.
Skinner noted a number of maritime mishaps in the keeper’s log. On February 10, 1886, the steamer Cambridge was wrecked on a nearby ledge early in the morning. The passengers and crew all escaped safely. Some 40 schooners and hundreds of men rushed to the Cambridge on the following day to salvage what cargo they could before the vessel broke apart.
Skinner's daughter, Eula Kelley, was born in the first keeper's house in 1891. She lived until 1993, spending her last years in a cottage nearby the light station. Eula's sister, Marion Dalrymple, was born in the new keeper's house in 1895. Both sisters attended the opening of the restored keeper's house in 1990.
The light was converted to electricity in 1935. After 1939, civilian keepers gave way to a succession of U.S. Coast Guard keepers.
Right: Keeper Charles Clement Skinner. Courtesy of Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum.
Lewis Carmichael, Jr. was the Coast Guard's officer in charge from 1968 to 1970, after some time at nearby Whitehead Light Station. He lived at Marshall Point with his wife, Roberta, and their young son, Thomas. A daughter, Elaine, was born while the family was stationed at Marshall Point. During the Carmichaels' stay, a horn replaced the old fog bell, despite the complaints of some neighbors. In his spare time, Carmichael enjoyed chatting with fishermen on a CB radio, building lobster traps, and hosting barbecues.
When the light was automated in 1971, the Fresnel lens was removed and replaced by a modern acrylic lens equipped with backup battery power.
Also in 1971, a LORAN (Long Range Navigation) station was located in the keeper's house. This station sent a 128,000 watt signal over a range of 14,000 square miles. In 1980 the equipment was outdated and the house was boarded up.
In 1986, the St. George Historical Society undertook the restoration of the house. A committee raised money and the restoration was completed in 1990. The first floor now houses the Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum. The exhibits highlight area history as well as life at Marshall Point.
The second floor apartment was occupied from 1989 to 2002 by Lee Ann and Tom Szelog. Lee Ann wrote a letter to the St. George Historical Society explaining why the couple should be chosen to be "keepers."
Lewis Carmichael, Jr. was the Coast Guard's officer in charge from 1968 to 1970, after some time at nearby Whitehead Light Station. He lived at Marshall Point with his wife, Roberta, and their young son, Thomas. A daughter, Elaine, was born while the family was stationed at Marshall Point. During the Carmichaels' stay, a horn replaced the old fog bell, despite the complaints of some neighbors. In his spare time, Carmichael enjoyed chatting with fishermen on a CB radio, building lobster traps, and hosting barbecues.
When the light was automated in 1971, the Fresnel lens was removed and replaced by a modern acrylic lens equipped with backup battery power.
Also in 1971, a LORAN (Long Range Navigation) station was located in the keeper's house. This station sent a 128,000 watt signal over a range of 14,000 square miles. In 1980 the equipment was outdated and the house was boarded up.
In 1986, the St. George Historical Society undertook the restoration of the house. A committee raised money and the restoration was completed in 1990. The first floor now houses the Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum. The exhibits highlight area history as well as life at Marshall Point.
The second floor apartment was occupied from 1989 to 2002 by Lee Ann and Tom Szelog. Lee Ann wrote a letter to the St. George Historical Society explaining why the couple should be chosen to be "keepers."
Above: Brief video clip from the late 1980s, when the keeper's house was boarded up while awaiting restoration.
Tom Szelog is a photographer whose photos of Marshall Point and other lighthouses have graced the covers of Down East and other publications. He once said, "This is a remarkable place. Every time I go out to take another picture I realize how lucky I am to live here."
Left: The original 1857 ventilator ball and lightning rod are in the Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum.
Remember the scene in the 1994 movie Forrest Gump when Tom Hanks ended his cross-country run at a lighthouse? That was Marshall Point. A picture of Hanks at the lighthouse hangs in the museum.
Bob Ensor and Jane Scarpino published a book about Ensor's pet, Nellie the Lighthouse Dog, featuring Marshall Point Light. The book and its sequels have been very popular.
The lighthouse is still an active Coast Guard aid to navigation. In late 2016, the light was changed to a VLB-44 LED-type optic.
Under the Maine Lights Program, the entire station, including the lighthouse, became the property of the Town of St. George in April 1998.
The lighthouse tower was refurbished and painted in late 2017. Another recent project was the reconstruction of a barn that stood on the site for many years until it was torn down by the Coast Guard in 1971.
You can visit the lighthouse and grounds all year; the museum is open from May to October. You can also view Marshall Point Light from the Port Clyde-Monhegan Island ferry. For more information, or to help with the maintenance of Marshall Point Light and the Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum, contact the Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum.
Remember the scene in the 1994 movie Forrest Gump when Tom Hanks ended his cross-country run at a lighthouse? That was Marshall Point. A picture of Hanks at the lighthouse hangs in the museum.
Bob Ensor and Jane Scarpino published a book about Ensor's pet, Nellie the Lighthouse Dog, featuring Marshall Point Light. The book and its sequels have been very popular.
The lighthouse is still an active Coast Guard aid to navigation. In late 2016, the light was changed to a VLB-44 LED-type optic.
Under the Maine Lights Program, the entire station, including the lighthouse, became the property of the Town of St. George in April 1998.
The lighthouse tower was refurbished and painted in late 2017. Another recent project was the reconstruction of a barn that stood on the site for many years until it was torn down by the Coast Guard in 1971.
You can visit the lighthouse and grounds all year; the museum is open from May to October. You can also view Marshall Point Light from the Port Clyde-Monhegan Island ferry. For more information, or to help with the maintenance of Marshall Point Light and the Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum, contact the Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum.
Keepers: (This list is a work in progress. If you have any information on the keepers of this lighthouse, I'd love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected]. Anyone copying this list onto another web site does so at their own risk, as the list is always subject to updates and corrections.)
John Watts (1832-1835); Joshua Watts (1835-1839); William Perry, Jr. (1839-?); Daniel Bartlett (?-1843); William Battle (1843-1845); ? Alexander (1845-1849); Samuel Hart (1849-1853); Orram Prescott (1853-1857 and 1861-1868); Ruggles Tory (1857-1861); Seth B. Prescott (1868-1874); Charles C. Skinner (1874-1919); Augustus "Gus" WIlson (assistant, c. 1912?); Joseph M. Gray (c, 1920-1921); Edward H. Pierce (1923-1933); Charles Allen (1933-1946); Wilson Carter (U.S. Coast Guard, 1946-1952); Ralph Banks (U.S. Coast Guard, 1952-1963); ? (U.S. Coast Guard, 1963-1967), Rodney Drown (U.S. Coast Guard, 1967-1968); Lewis Carmichael, Jr. (U.S. Coast Guard,1968-1970); William Boddy (U.S. Coast Guard, 1970-1971).