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Marshall Point, Maine

Harbour Lights Limited Edition #258

The Marshall Point Light at Port Clyde, Maine has been a constant source of navigational guidance since it was first established in 1832. As if that weren't enough, this lighthouse has a day job, too. The picturesque harbor setting, the footbridge out to the light tower, and the charming keepers house are also a wellspring of artistic inspiration. Photographers, painters, writers, and even filmmakers find the lighthouse to be a captivating subject, as well as a very patient and cooperative model. They set up their easels, their tripods, their cameras, again and again, trying to capture its unique and tranquil beauty.

Marshall Point even had a bit part in the movie Forrest Gump. Remember when Forrest ran to the Pacific Ocean, then turned around and ran to the Atlantic? In one scene, Tom Hanks runs the footbridge out to the Marshall Point light tower, then turns around and keeps on going. Yes, it was brief. However, you could say the whole screen lit up. Today, you can see a picture of Tom Hanks at Marshall Point in the lighthouse museum.

As many as 12,000 people a year visit the museum, which is part of the keeper's house. It recounts the site's history from its humble beginnings in 1831, when Samuel Marshall sold the land parcel to the United States for only $120.The original tower was built in 1832 from rubble stone for about $4,000. In 1857, another $5,000 went to building the present brick and granite tower.

Then in 1890, lightning struck - quite literally - destroying the original stone house attached to the tower. An attractive Colonial Revival took its place. It still stands today, housing the museum in addition to a private apartment on the second floor.

Charles Clement Skinner, a Civil War veteran, served as keeper from 1874 to 1919. He and his wife raised their six children there. Two of his daughters, who were both born at Marshall Point, attended the opening of the restored keeper's house in 1990.  And one of those daughters, Eula Kelley, even spent her last years in a nearby cottage until her death in 1993 at the age of 102, One look at this special lighthouse, and it's easy to understand why she - and so many others - would be drawn back

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Photographs by Paul L. Brady © Harbour Lights  December 13, 2001