#Picture of lighthouse keeper in storm windows#

As the tide came, the sea rose higher and higher, till the only endurable places were the light-towers.

#Picture of lighthouse keeper in storm windows#

The new dwelling was flooded and the windows had to be secured to prevent the violence of the spray from breaking them in. Abbie moved her mother and sisters to the north lighthouse tower. On January 19, Matinicus Rock was practically underwater. Soon the waves grew large as the wind increased, and the gale continued to worsen over the next three days. 'I can depend on you, Abbie,' he said as he left the island.īy the afternoon a storm began to approach Penobscot Bay. In January 1856, Burgess left in his sailboat to pick up supplies, leaving Abbie alone with her mother and younger sisters.

She quickly learned to light the whale oil lamps and perform other duties around the Rock. The Burgess's oldest daughter living at the light station, Abbie, had been born on Matinicus Island in August 1839. Their oldest son, Benjamin, soon left to earn a living as a fisherman.

Burgess and his invalid wife, Thankful (Phinney) moved to the station with several of their ten children their oldest daughters had already married. The bell was retained as a backup signal.

In 1869, a steam-driven fog whistle - one of the first used anywhere - was installed. The bell is now at the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland, Maine.Ī new bell tower with striking machinery was installed in 1867. The old wooden towers were torn down, but the first dwelling remained and was used as a storage shed.īecause Matinicus Rock was frequently enshrouded in fog, a 2,000-pound fog bell was added in 1856. The new lights were higher than the old ones-90 and 85 feet above mean high water. The stone towers built at each end of the dwelling were just slightly farther apart than the old ones, in spite of complaints that the lights sometimes blended into a single light from certain directions. 'Had not a sudden shift of wind ensued,' Abbott reported, 'I believe another shock would have entirely destroyed the building.'Ī new granite dwelling, designed by Alexander Parris, was built by the contractor Gridley Bryant at a cost of $10,250 in 1846. The kitchen wing of the house was practically demolished by the waves and the first floor was filled waist-deep with water. In February 1842, Abbott and his family were forced to take refuge in the attic of the dwelling during another storm that produced unusually high seas. Two months after the great storm, Samuel Abbott was appointed keeper at $450 yearly. Two days later, the keeper was able to hang a temporary lamp from a mast. The cold, damp air and frequent storms no doubt contributed to the keepers' illnesses.Ī tremendous storm in January 1839 did much damage to the buildings and put the lights out of operation. The second keeper, Phineas Spear, also died after a short time at the Rock. He subsequently died in a Portland hospital. Shaw and his wife lived at the station until 1831, when Shaw became too ill to continue as keeper. Shaw, was appointed at a yearly salary of $450. Each tower exhibited a fixed white light. The first lighthouse building was a stone dwelling with a wooden tower at each end, 40 feet apart. It was considered a primary seacoast light station. John Smith in 1614, who made notes in his log about 'the rock of Mattinack.'īecause of its prominent location on the approach to busy Penobscot Bay, Congress and President John Quincy Adams authorized the building of two lighthouses on Matinicus Rock in 1827. 'The Rock' is five miles south of the much larger Matinicus Island. Matinicus Rock is a windswept 32-acre granite island, 18 miles off the mainland and 25 miles from Rockland, the nearest port.