By following a cart-track for a quarter of an hour one
comes to the canal, a stone's throw across, dividing the cape
from the Nubble Rock. On the top of this bare crag the lighthouse-keeper's
dwelling and fog signal stand out bold and sharp against the
blue sky. At the east, a clump of blanched ledges stretches off...
This prospect comprises everything between Cape Ann and Cape
Elizabeth in clear weather, and is every way admirable.
-- Samuel Adams Drake, The Pine Tree Coast,
1891.
The "Nubble" is a small, rocky island a short distance
off the eastern point of Cape Neddick, about two miles north
of the entrance to the York River and York Harbor. In 1602, explorer
Bartholomew Gosnold met with local Indians on the island and
dubbed it "Savage Rock."
- A view from Long Sands Beach in York
The placement of a lighthouse on the Nubble had been recommended
by many local mariners since 1807. An 1837 proposal was rejected
on the grounds that there were already enough lights in the vicinity.
Even after the wreck of the bark Isidore in 1842, north
of the Nubble near Bald Head Cliff, it still took nearly four
more decades before the lighthouse was established. The Isidore,
according to legend, still reappears as a ghost ship with a phantom
crew.
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Congress appropriated $15,000 for the building of a lighthouse
on the Nubble in 1876. The 41-foot cast-iron tower, lined with
brick, was first illuminated on July 1, 1879. At first, the lighthouse
was painted reddish-brown, showing a fixed red light through
a fourth order Fresnel lens.
The lighthouse still exhibits a red light, but the tower has
been painted white since 1902.
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The distinctive red oil house was built in 1902, and the walkway
connecting the lighthouse to the keeper's house was added in
1911.
The station originally had a fog bell operated by automatic
striking machinery. The skeleton frame bell tower was replaced
in 1911 by a white pyramidal tower, itself torn down in 1961.
For a time, the Nubble's 3,000 pound fog bell could be heard
by the keepers at Boon Island six miles away. The bell was later
replaced by a diaphragm horn.
Nathaniel Otterson was the first keeper. His replacement,
Brackett Lewis, formerly assistant keeper of Whaleback Light,
was keeper from 1885 to 1904, the longest stint of any keeper
at the Nubble. While Lewis was keeper, his daughter, Hattie,
married Charles Billings in the lantern room.
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- U.S. Coast Guard photo
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The next keeper, William Brooks, previously at Boon Island
and White Island, picked up extra cash by ferrying sightseers
and fishermen to the island for ten cents apiece. This was not
appreciated by Brooks' superiors, and the keeper soon "resigned."
At low tide it was sometimes possible to walk between the
Nubble and the mainland. Lucy Glidden Burke Steffen, daughter
of keeper James Burke, later described being carried piggy-back
by her father across the bar.
Lucy Steffen told author Clifford Shattuck many details of
her life at the Nubble. The family kept a cow and chickens, and
Keeper Burke also supplemented his family's diet by catching
large cod and haddock offshore and by duck hunting. Lobsters,
crabs, and mussels were also plentiful near the island.
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On March 20, 1927, Eva Kimball, daughter of Keeper Fairfield
Moore, went into labor during a severe snowstorm. Keeper Moore
rowed across the channel and picked up a local doctor. The two
men returned to the Nubble just in time for the last seconds
of the birth of Eva's daughter, Barbara.
- Ricky Winchester riding in the bucket
in 1967. Courtesy of Lighthouse Digest.
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Barbara Kimball Finnemore lived at the lighthouse until she
was six. Her favorite memory was accompanying her grandfather
to the top of the tower to light the lamp.
The usual way of getting to and from the Nubble was by boat.
For a time, the keepers used a bucket suspended on a line across
the channel to transport supplies.
Around 1967, Coast Guard keeper David Winchester put his two
children in the bucket each morning to send them on their way
to school.
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A photographer snapped a picture of seven-year-old Ricky Winchester
in the bucket, and the photo appeared widely in newspapers. A
woman also painted a scene of the boy in the bucket, and it won
the York Harbor Art Show.
The district commander saw the photo in a Boston paper. An
arrangement was made for the child to board on the mainland during
the week. Soon after that, it became policy that families with
school-age children were not sent to the Nubble.
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- The "bucket" today
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The lantern room in Cape Neddick Light is one of the most
complete in an active Maine lighthouse. Nearly all the original
brass fittings remain. One of the few changes is that red plastic
now encases the light, replacing the original glass used to produce
the light's characteristic red light.
- The present lens was manufactured
in 1891 by F. Barbier in Paris
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The fourth-order Fresnel lens is not the original one, but
is an 1891 lens moved from another station in 1928. The original
lens had been damaged in an explosion.
The great blizzard of February 6-7, 1978, washed out the Nubble's
boathouse, which was replaced by the present structure.
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- The boathouse
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The Nubble Light has probably appeared on more postcards,
calendars, and other souvenirs than any other New England lighthouse,
with the possible exception of Portland Head Light. In 1977,
when NASA sent Voyager II into space to photograph the outer
solar system, it was also loaded with artifacts designed to teach
possible extraterrestrial civilizations about our planet. One
of the images it carried was a picture of the Nubble Light.
- Inside the tower (August 2003)
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destination. In 1930, Keeper Eugene Coleman recorded over 1,000
visitors in his guest register, including guests from 11 nations
and 32 states. Because it's easily reached by a drive of just
a few minutes from popular York Beach, Sohier Park across from
the Nubble is today visited by hundreds of thousands of people
annually. |
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- A view from the top of the lighthouse
looking back at Sohier Park
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Parks and Recreation Director Mike Sullivan once said, "The
park is absolutely jam packed every day. Part of the allure of
Nubble Light is its mystical nature. You can't quite get there.
You can almost reach it but you can't get there."
Sohier Park, incidentally, is named for William
Davis Sohier,
a lawyer from Boston who gave the land to the town of York in
1929. His father had bought the land for the fine duck hunting.
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The light was automated in 1987 and the last Coast Guard keeper,
Russell Ahlgren, was removed. A crowd of more than 300 spectators
witnessed the automation ceremonies on July 13 in dense fog.
The station was leased to the town of York in 1989.
(Right: Russell and Brenda Ahlgren with their son, Chris, circa 1987. Courtesy of William O. Thomson.) |  |
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When the town took over, more than 300 unsolicited applications
were received from people wanting to be live-in caretakers. The
keeper's house remains unoccupied because of water and sewer
issues.
In 1989, the town received a grant from the Maine Historic
Preservation Committee for restoration work on the keeper's house.
Two second story windows were removed and replaced by a larger
window resembling the one originally installed.
In November 1997, the people of York voted overwhelmingly
to allow the town's selectmen to "adopt" the lighthouse.
Under the Maine Lights Program coordinated by the Island Institute,
the lighthouse officially became the property of the town in
1998.
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- The welcome center at Sohier Park
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- The finials on the gallery railing
are miniature lighthouses.
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One of the most popular events of the year on the southern
Maine coast is the annual Lighting of the Nubble, when the lighthouse
and other buildings are illuminated with Christmas lights. The
late November event is accompanied by holiday music and never
fails to draw a large crowd.
One of the Nubble's tireless volunteers, Verna Rundlett, originated
a "Christmas in July" event, giving summer visitors
a chance to view the station decorated just as it is at Christmastime.
She also supervised the building of a welcome center at Sohier
Park. The building, open seasonally, houses a gift shop and public
restrooms.
In 2001, the Sohier Park Committee installed a $7,000 fire
alarm system at Sohier Park and spent $14,000 for a 120-foot
ramp and dock on the Nubble.
The foundation of the lighthouse was also painted and regrouted,
and the walkway to the lighthouse was replaced. More restoration
of the buildings is still needed.
Besides being easily viewed from Sohier Park, Cape Neddick
Light can be seen from an excursion
boat leaving Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, and from occasional
lighthouse cruises leaving Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
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- Left and above, the band Nickel
Creek shot a music video at the Nubble Light in October
2001
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For more information, or to help with the preservation
of the Cape Neddick "Nubble" Light, contact:
- Friends
of Nubble Light
- 186 York Street
- York, ME 03909
- (207) 363-3078
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- Keepers: Leander White (1879 - was reassigned
before lighthouse was established); Simon Leighton (1879 - resigned
due to illness); Nathaniel Otterson (1879-1885); Brackett Lewis
(1885-1904); William M. Brooks (1904-1912); James Burke (1912-1919);
William Richardson (1919-1921); Fairfield Moore (1921-1928);
Edmund Howe (1928-1930); Truman J. Lathrop (1930); Eugene Coleman
(1930-1943) ; Oscar M. "Tiny" Sparrow (Coast Guard,
1940s); Wilbur Brewster (Coast Guard, 1948-1951); Irving T. Sparrow
(Coast Guard, 1951-?); Bruce Reed (Coast Guard, c. late 1950s);
Boyd L. Davis (Coast Guard, c. 1950s); John Johnson (Coast Guard,
c, 1961); Leo R. Midgett (Coast Guard, c. 1964); Allan E. Wilson
(Coast Guard, c. 1960s); Alfred Paul Chadwick (Coast Guard, c.
1967); David K. Winchester (Coast Guard); Arnold P. Chadwick
(Coast Guard); Lindsay C. Rome (Coast Guard); Daniel J. Fries
(Coast Guard); Michael Carbino (Coast Guard); Michael Hackett
(Coast Guard, 1973-1975); Richard Harrison (Coast Guard, 1975-1977);
Ronald O'Brien (Coast Guard, 1977-1979); John Terry (Coast Guard,
c. 1984); Robert French (Coast Guard, 1984-1986); Russell Ahlgren
(Coast Guard, ?-1987)
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