Digest>Archives> Nov/Dec 2014

Maine’s Tallest Beacon Sold

By Kathleen Finnegan

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The 133-foot tall Boon Island Lighthouse, about nine miles off the coast of York, Maine, has been sold by a GSA on-line auction to Mr. Art Girard of Portland, Maine, for $78,000.

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On December 11, 1719, many years before a lighthouse was built on Boon Island, a British ship, the Nottingham Galley, was wrecked at Boon Island. The subsequent gruesome shipwreck survival story became the basis of the popular novel by Kenneth Roberts called “Boon Island.”

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When Boon Island Lighthouse was a staffed lighthouse, it was considered one of the most remote and lonely lighthouse stations in New England; however, one keeper, William C. Williams, lived there with his family for an amazing 26 years.

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In 2000, the lighthouse was licensed by the Coast Guard to the American Lighthouse Foundation. In 2003, Timothy Harrison, who was then president of the American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF), launched “The Republic of Boon Island” that was originally an idea taken from the book and movie, “The Mouse That Roared,” which declared Boon Island as an independent nation and Harrison declared himself “The Regent Lord Master.” The American Lighthouse Foundation then sold citizenship papers and political appointments to help raise money for the American Lighthouse Foundation. The spoof drew local as well as national media attention. After Harrison left the American Lighthouse Foundation in 2007, the organization, to the dismay of many and without any explanation, stopped promoting the unique fund raising idea.

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In 2012, under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, the federal government declared the lighthouse as excess property and ownership of the lighthouse was offered free of charge to the American Lighthouse Foundation, but the nonprofit group, in spite of their mission to save lighthouses, declined to take ownership, saying the lighthouse would be too expensive to restore or maintain. The bidding for the lighthouse officially closed on August 16, 2014, but it still had to be approved by the government. Girard said that he is looking forward to at least making the lighthouse look better than it now does. The first order lens that was once in the tower is now on display at the Kittery Historical and Naval Museum in Kittery, Maine. (2006 photos by Bob Trapani, Jr.)

This story appeared in the Nov/Dec 2014 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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