A most noble and exhilarating prospect of sea and shore presents itself at one glance. Here, at our left, comes the Saco from its mountain home; right before us, Wood Island lights the entrance, and Stage Island breaks off the seas that come rolling in toward the river's mouth from the broad Atlantic.

-- Samuel Adams Drake, The Pine Tree Coast, 1891.

Wood Island Lighthouse Station circa 1860s (U.S. Coast Guard)

Wood Island, about 35 acres in size, lies about two miles east of the entrance to the Saco River and less than a mile from the village known as Biddeford Pool. Biddeford Pool gets its name from a tidal inlet known simply as "The Pool," bounded by Fletcher's Neck to the south and Hills Beach to the north.

The communities of Saco and Biddeford grew up on the banks of the Saco River. The first sawmill in the area was established in 1653, and textile mills grew into the chief local industry. Fish and lumber were the area's other major exports. Fletcher's Neck was considered a hazard to navigation, and Congress appropriated $5,000 for a lighthouse on Wood Island in March 1806. Land for the station was purchased from Pendleton Fletcher.

The light station was completed by September 1, 1807, for a sum of $4,750. For reasons that aren't clear, the 45-foot octagonal wooden lighthouse didn't go into service until the following year. The original tower lasted until 1839, when a new 45-foot conical granite tower -- 20 feet in diameter at the base and 10 feet at the top -- was built, along with new one-story granite dwelling, after a congressional appropriation of $5,000.

The 1839 tower was not well built; an 1854 appropriation of $5,000 was needed to rebuild it again. The 1858 annual report of the Lighthouse Board announced that a new tower had been completed. A fourth-order Fresnel lens was installed in the 47-foot stone tower. The present wood-frame dwelling, which has had many alterations over the years, was also built at that time.

One of the best-known keepers in Wood Island's history was Thomas H. Orcutt, a veteran sea captain who was in charge from 1886 until his death in 1905. Orcutt played a role in the island's most infamous tragedy. The principals in the drama were Fred Milliken and Howard Hobbs.

Fred Milliken, a game warden and special policeman, lived on Wood Island with his wife and three children for several years in the 1890s. Milliken was described as a giant, in his thirties, who easily carried his dory on his shoulders.

Howard Hobbs, a young lobsterman, took up residence on the island. On June 2, 1896, Hobbs visited Old Orchard Beach, and was reportedly intoxicated by the time he returned to Wood Island. Hobbs told a companion that he was going to visit Milliken. He took his rifle with him, supposedly to shoot some birds.

Milliken saw that his neighbor was drunk, with a rifle in his arms, and told Hobbs to hand over the weapon. Hobbs refused, and as Milliken started to advance he was shot in the abdomen. Millken was dead within 45 minutes. In a daze, the young man wandered to the keeper's dwelling at the lighthouse, where Orcutt advised him to give himself up to the authorities. Hobbs returned to his small shack and proceeded to put a bullet in his own head. There are many ghostly tales told about the island, and some blame the 1896 murder-suicide.

Ron Kolek of the New England Ghost Project, seen here with Vicki Monroe, conducted an investigation at Wood Island in August 2005. You can read about it here.

Thomas Orcutt, who had previously been keeper at Saddleback Ledge Light, had a pet that gained national fame. His dog, Sailor, became famous for ringing the station's fog bell with his mouth (or paws, according to one account). The dog was said to possess almost human inelligence. According to a 1900 article in the Boston Globe, Sailor also served as a messenger, delighting in carrying letters and other small articles in his mouth. It was claimed that he understood all that was said to him.

Keeper Thomas Orcutt with Sailor, his fog bell ringing dog. Courtesy of Roderick Jeffers.

 

The bell at Vines Landing

An 1872 fog bell from Wood Island, manufactured by Vickers, Sons & Co. in England, is now on display at Vines Landing in Biddeford Pool. This bell was replaced by a new one in 1890.

The last U.S. Lighthouse Service keeper at Wood Island Light was Earle Benson, a veteran of World War I. Benson and his wife, Alice, loved Wood Island the most of their four stations. After a stint at Portland Head Light, where a flow of tourists was a way of life, the Bensons preferred the quiet of Wood Island.

U.S. Coast Guard photo. Note the fog bell tower to the right.

Wood Island was considered briefly as a possible site for a nuclear power plant in the late 1960s. In 1970, 28 of the island's 35 acres were deeded to the Maine Audubon Society.

In July 1976, Coast Guardsman Mike McQuade and his wife Patsy, natives of Omaha, Nebraska, came to the island. McQuade had asked for lighthouse duty, and he was pleased when he was assigned to Wood Island Light Station. "We couldn't have asked for a better place to be near the ocean," he said. In addition to operating the light, McQuade was required to turn on the station's fog signal when the visibility dropped to less than 2 1/2 miles, and he also had to keep an eye on 20 navigational buoys near the island.

A view from the top

The McQuades inherited the station's mascot, a five-year-old collie named Kelly. Kelly came to Wood Island Light as a puppy and performed the important duty of keeping rats and mice under control. The McQuades also brought along Torrey, their Lhasa Apso. In 1978, the McQuades welcomed their first child, Damian, born on the mainland at Webber Hospital in Biddeford.

By the 1970s, many improvements had been made to the keeper's house. There were three bedrooms, a kitchen, an office, a living room, laundry room and an upstairs bathroom. The furnace in the basement was converted from coal to oil in the 1950s. Water came from a fresh water well; it was pumped into a 2,000 gallon cistern and then pumped to the faucets as needed. Electric power for the light and the house came from Biddeford Pool and was backed up by a diesel generator.

In 1972, Wood Island Light's lantern was removed and a rotating aerobeacon was installed. The public complained about the "headless" lighthouse so a new aluminum lantern was installed when the light was automated and the keeper and his family were removed in 1986.

Wood Island Light during its "headless" period. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

 

In early 2003 a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation was formed to care for the light station:

Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse
(A chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation)

P. O. Box 26
Biddeford Pool, ME 04006

Most of the rest of the island is managed by the Maine Audubon Society, and some of it is privately owned. Wood Island Light, still an active aid to navigation, can be seen from a trail along the water in Biddeford Pool and distantly from the Old Orchard Beach area. The Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse offer tours in summer.

A nineteenth century daymark, the Stage Island Monument, can be seen near Wood Island.

Keepers (thanks to the Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse for providing much of this list): Benjamin Cole (1808-1809); Philip Goldthwaite (1809-1832); Tristam Goldthwaite (1832-1833); Abraham Norwood (1833-1841); John Adams (1841-?); Stephen D. Batchelder (1849-?); Nathaniel Varrell (185?); L.F. Varrell (185?); Joseph R. Bryant (1854-1861?) ; Ebenezer Emerson (1861-1865); Edwin Tarbox (1865- 1872); Albert Norwood (1872-1886); Thomas Henry Orcutt (1886-1905); Charles A. Burke (1905-1914); C.B. Staples (1914-1917); W. F. Lurvey (1917-1923); Albert Staples (1923-1926); George Woodward (1927-1934); Earle Benson (Lighthouse Service 1934-1939, Coast Guard 1939-1942)

U.S. COAST GUARD: EN3 Edward G. Frank (1952-1956); BM2 Forrest S. Cheney (1952); BM3 Edwin R. Duquette (1952); SN R. M. Sawtelle (1952-1954); John Rogers (Rodgers?) (c. 1948); BM2 Gerald E. Ryan (1957); EN3 David G. Crider (1957); EN3 Harrison E. Parker (1957); BM3 David A Katon (1957-1959); FN Bruce A. Creswell (1958); SN Richard M. Gramlich (1958); SN Constantine H. Szczechowicz (1958, 1961); EN2 Laurier Burnham (1959-1963); Edward J. Conner (1959); SN Spencer N. Graham (1959-1960); BM1 Lee Merrick (1960); Raymond E. Bill, Sr. (1961); ENS Bryon H. Stauffer (1961); BM1 James E. Murray (1961); SA Alan L. George (1961-1962); Wasil W. Johnson (1962); BM3 Frank D. Harmon (1962); SN Martin P. Hass (1962); BM1 Jack B. Netherwood (1962-1963); Roger O. Shaw (1962-1963); EN2 David Winchester (1963-1964); SNCS James Willis (1963-1964); SN Clifton M. Wood (1963-1964); EN2 David P. Bichrest (1964-1967); George Tevis (sp?) (1965); Perley or Peiley Aprague (1965, 1968); John P. Reidy (1966); BM3 A.J. Savageau (sp?) (1967-1968); BM2 Ronald A. Handfield (1968); EN2 James J. Roche (1968-1969); Clifford Trebilcock (1970-1972); Andrew Preneau (1972); Jerry Murray (1973-1976); Michael McQuade (1976-1979); Russ Lowell (1979-1982); Phillip Brothwell (1983-1985); Merton Perry (1986); Warren Rowell (1986).