Ryan's Flat Stanley arrived in Owls Head, Maine,
yesterday after a prolonged visit to Canada. We walked to the nearby Owls
Head Lighthouse which is maintained by the United States Coast Guard to mark the
southern entrance to Rockland Harbor.
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This lighthouse was built in 1852, over 160 years
ago, when Rockland was a very busy port with many shipyards building wooden
ships which carried freight (and passengers) up and down the coast of the United
States and to many foreign countries. One of the most important products
carried was limestone, which is still quarried in this area today. Lime is
used as an agricultural product and in the manufacture of cement which is used
to make concrete for building construction. Another product shipped from Rockland was the ice which was cut from
nearby ponds in winter, packed in sawdust for insulation, and shipped to many
ports before the invention of mechanical refrigerators and freezers.
Until 25-30 years ago Rockland was also known for
its fish-packing plants, where sardines and herring were canned or frozen for
shipping around the world. Today, lobsters are the most important
marine industry; Rockland is one of the biggest shippers of lobsters in
Maine.
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Stanley is looking across the mouth of Rockland Harbor
toward Rockport and Camden. |
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| Stanley is looking across Penobscot Bay to the
islands of North Haven and Vinalhaven. Those islands are important today for their
summer visitors and their lobster fishing. A hundred years or so ago they
were important sources of the granite blocks which were used in buildings in
large cities from Washington, DC, to Boston, MA, and Portland, ME. Flat Stanley is headed to Virginia and will be home in Gorham, Maine, very soon! Safe travels, Stanley! | |
