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Acadia National Park, where the mountains meet the sea and the sun spreads its first rays of glowing color across the horizon on the eastern seaboard, is home of a special jewel, The Bass Harbor Lighthouse. This historic beacon has been guiding mariners along Maine's rocky and treacherous coastline for an amazing 140 years. For Harbour Lights collectors, it almost seems like they have waited the same number of years for a replica of this famous light.
Although it has been long time, but not that many years, that Harbour Lights has been receiving an abundance of mail from collectors asking them to produce a replica of Bass Harbor Light.
To produce a replica, Harbour Lights needed what they call, "usable photographs" to help in the design of this lighthouse, but none were available. The keepers house is private property and getting photographs of all the angles, is in itself, quite difficult.
Enter Tom Farrell, the local sales rep for Harbour Lights. Farrell, armed with a basket of Mrs. Fields cookies and his usual big smile got the needed photos. Now, with photos in hand, Harbour Lights could have the replica sculptured.
However, when the first piece finally arrived at Harbour Lights, it was rejected by Kim Andrews as not meeting the high quality that Harbour Lights demands. So back to the drawing board it went. They even used a different sculptor who in turn produced a replica that passed the high standard of excellence required by Harbour Lights. Harbour Lights collectors will find the waiting was well worth it when they get a replica of Bass Harbor Lighthouse that will be admired for years to come.
Other news of interest: Harbour Lights has announced the release of the "Signature Series" of replicas. These lighthouses will be personally signed on a special label by the founder of Harbour Lights, Bill Younger. The replicas in this new series will be of an open edition and will be of lighthouses that have a personal meaning to Mr. Younger. The first in the series will be Thomas Point Light, Maryland. Younger as a boy, spent some great times fishing on the Chesapeake. It was his memories of that screwpile light that became one of his many inspirations in the founding of Harbour Lights.
Speaking of Thomas Point, Maryland, the original limited edition piece has become very sought after on the secondary market. Only 9500 were produced. Roughly within three weeks after its release in September 1996, it became the fastest replica to retire.
Over the past twenty months, most of the replicas of Thomas Point that were still available around the nation have disappeared from store shelves. Thomas Point has been selling in a price range of $150 -$200. At Lighthouse Trading Company, we have found that there are more collectors trying to complete their collection of screwpile lighthouses than Harbour Lights produced. And Thomas Point Maryland was one of them.
Matt Rothman is the owner of Lighthouse Trading Company, which is the original and leading source specializing in the secondary market of Harbour Lights. He can be contacted at 112 Elio Circle, Limerick, PA 19468, or by calling him at 610-409-9336.
This story appeared in the May 1998 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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