New Presque Isle: The Second Lighthouse of My Life

During my childhood at Point Iroquois I was firsthand witness to the faithful dedication of the keepers of the flame. I watched my father and his two assistants climb the 75 cast iron steps to the lantern room carrying large cans of kerosene to fuel the lamp. I saw them shovel tons of hard coal into the fog signal furnace which powered the steam whistle. I saw them fuel river buoys and range lights. I was always hovering around as they polished brass, painted and maintained the buildings and worked on the station grounds. At dawn the keeper on duty would raise the American flag, at sunset the man on duty would lower it, carefully fold it and lay it away to wait the dawn.