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Historic lighthouse featured on Maine state quarter suffers extensive damage in storm
The bell tower part of the Pemaquid Point Light lost its entire front wall and part of the side wall because of waves and winds during this week's storm.
A part of the beloved lighthouse — the one featured on Maine’s state quarter — was badly damaged in a storm this week that moved over New England, bringing torrential rain and strong winds to the region.
The Pemaquid Point Light’s bell tower in Bristol, Maine, built in 1897, was battered to a point that its interior was exposed. Shelley Gallagher, Bristol’s Parks and Recreation Department director, said the powerful wind and high waves tore down the bell tower’s whole front wall and part of the side, with pictures showing a debris pile of bricks surrounding the building.
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“The waves came up and hit it hard,” said Gallagher, who added that a wind reading from the top of the lighthouse reported 79 mph winds during the storm. “It was just such a high tide and so much surf. There was so much power behind it.”
Gallagher’s department has spent time assessing the damage and collecting the historic bricks before they finalize next steps for recovery. But a couple of matters stand in their way.
One: there’s a storm rolling through New England this weekend. And one next week.
Gallagher said they had to spend part of the time they could have used to assess damage shoring up the destroyed building so that the impending weather wouldn’t make matters even worse.
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“It seems like these December and January storms are just the worst out of them,” she said.
She told The Boston Globe she was shocked that after well over a century of weathering storms, this is the event that did the bell tower in. News Center Maine also reported that Portland recorded its third-highest water levels at 13.84 feet.
After the weather passes, there’s also a lot of unknowns around what can be done with a historic shoreline property, Gallagher said.
“Can we rebuild it? How would we go about rebuilding it? We believe it can be rebuilt, but because it’s an historic building, it’s going to be a challenge,” she said.
It appeared that the torrential storm had not only impacted Pemaquid. Area residents shared the extensive damage to homes, fishing docks, and roads that were washed out on social media.
“Our little community is in shock and devastated by the amount of destruction…,” business SugarSpell said on Facebook. “So many hard-working folks lost docks, fish houses, and even homes.”
The damage to the bell tower means the backside of the property is closed, but Gallagher said visitors can still get close to the lighthouse tower which, along with a two-story building that houses a museum and upstairs rental, make up the property.
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Those other parts of the property — the main attractions — received minimal damage, but they still need repairs. The siding took a beating during the storm, water got into one of the rooms, and a window was knocked loose. But Gallagher said, those repairs can be done by the opening of their season when the lighthouse property is staffed, which begins in mid-May and ends mid-October. The Pemaquid Beach that they oversee also needs clean-up and its boardwalk repaired after the storm.
But as for the bell tower’s recovery by summer, Gallagher is more hopeful than certain it will get done.
She said the Parks Department would share more information about how residents can help in clean-up and recovery efforts on Facebook once they know more.
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