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Maine Preservation, a nonprofit preservation organization, has announced that Maine's 1876 Little River Light Station has been placed on the group's list as one of the most endangered historic properties in Maine.
The group felt that the light station should be included on their list, because it has been declared surplus property by the United States Coast Guard and no one seems to want the lighthouse. The lighthouse was one of the lighthouses put up for "adoption" under the Maine Lights Program which recently transferred 28 Maine Lighthouse from Coast Guard ownership to nonprofit and state and community ownership. However, no group or community made an application for the lighthouse.
Back in 1993, the Coast Guard offered to the lighthouse to the nearby community of Cutler. However, town officials voted to not become custodians of the lighthouse. At that time, they felt they did not want to come up with the $200 for liability insurance.
Since no one wants the lighthouse, it will go through government channels and be offered to other government agencies, none of which have shown an interest in owning the lighthouse. Most likely it will be put up for auction and sold to a private individual. Once that happens, the historic property will not be protected from change or even possible demolition.
The community of Cutler Maine should be chastised for their actions. For a mere $200, they have let an important part of Maine's, if not America's lighthouse history slip through their hands and possibly be lost forever. However, these are the type of actions that are to be expected from the public officials of Cutler. This is the same town that in 1993 refused to pay dues to the Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce and the Maine Publicity Bureau. One local official at that time was quoted in the Bangor Daily News as saying that residents "voted to keep the damned tourists out of Cutler." What this official and others failed to realize, is that it is the tourists that pay the bills and contribute heavily to Maine's economy. Maybe, if Cutler had a few more tourists in town, this community of cheapskates could have scrounged up the $200. On the other hand, they could have called me up, I would have written them a check. Oh, by the way, a number of years ago, I was a once a tourist to Maine. I liked it so much I moved to Maine and having been living here ever since.
This story appeared in the October 1998 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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