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Without any fanfare, the American Lighthouse Foundation’s Museum of Lighthouse History in Wells, Maine, closed its doors forever as a small group of hard working and dedicated volunteers descended on the building to pack its collection of rare artifacts in preparation for their merger into the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland.
“In one way, it was kind of sad to see this happen,” said Tim Harrison, who founded the museum in Wells. He went on to say, “It wasn’t that long ago that we dedicated the museum and our friend and my mentor, Ken Black, “Mr. Lighthouse” was here to cut the ribbon and celebrate the opening with us. We really thought that this museum would be a viable entity as well as helping to motivate people to travel up the coast to the Maine Lighthouse Museum.”
However, last year, after the dedication of the Ken Black Exhibition Hall at the Maine Lighthouse Museum, in Rockland, members of both museums started to discuss how the two collections could complement each other if they were merged and thereby create the largest lighthouse museum in the nation. The talks ensued and soon an agreement was reached to consolidate the collection.
It is expected to take many months to fully integrate the collections, but when completed the members believe the public will appreciate it and both the Maine Lighthouse Museum and the American Lighthouse Foundation, which now has its headquarters office at the Maine Lighthouse Museum, will both be able to expand their educational efforts and programs while preserving artifacts for future generations.
The consolidations of the American Lighthouse Foundation’s Museum of Lighthouse History into the Maine Lighthouse Museum and the move of the American Lighthouse Foundation’s offices from Wells to Rockland, Maine have created an immense financial strain on the American Lighthouse Foundation and they are urgently appealing for financial support from the public.
If you can help, please send your
tax-deductible donation to:
American Lighthouse Foundation
More Than Bricks and Mortar Campaign
P.O. Box 565
Rockland, ME 04841
Donations can also be made online by credit card at www.LighthouseFoundation.org or by calling 1-207-594-4174
This story appeared in the
June 2007 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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