1382 UNITED STATES (Maine) - Marshall Point Light in Port Clyde

Port Clyde is the southernmost settlement on the Saint George peninsula in central/coastal  Maine, and part of the town of Saint George. In the 19th century, it became a busy port featuring granite quarries, tide mills for sawing timber, and shipbuilding and fish canning businesses. Marshall Point Light Station was established in 1832 to assist boats entering and leaving Port Clyde Harbor. The original lighthouse was a 6.1m tower lit by seven lard oil lamps with 14-inch reflectors, but in 1857 this was replaced with the present one. It is a 9.4m tall white brick tower on a granite foundation. The tower was originally lit with a 5th order Fresnel lens. A raised wooden walkway connects the tower to land.

In 1895, the original keeper's house was destroyed by lightning, so a Colonial Revival style house was built to replace it. An oil house and a bell tower with a 450 kg bell were added in 1898, which was replaced with a fog horn in 1969. The lighthouse was automated in 1980 and the original Fresnel lens was replaced with a modern 300mm optic. The original lens is at the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland. In 1986, the St. George Historical Society restored the keeper's house and established the Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum there, presenting the histories of Marshall Point Light and other nearby lighthouses. The light station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The lighthouse appeared in the 1994 film Forrest Gump.

About the stamps
The first two stamps - depicting a Tiffany Lamp (1c / 2002) and a American Toleware (5c / 2004) - are part of the definitives series American Design (2002-2007), about which I wrote here. About the following stamp, featuring a portrait of George Washington, I wrote here. About the fourth stamp, issued for celebrate the beginning of the Year of the Snake I wrote here. About the fifth stamp, issued to celebrate the Year of the Horse, I wrote here.
 
References
Marshall Point Light - Wikipedia

Sender: Denise 
Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 28.03.2014
Photo: Eric Wunrow / 1997