The Fiddler's Reach Fog Signal is a
fog signal station A fog signal station is a station at which a fog signal exists, but at which there is no lighthouse. A light tower might be appended to the station at a later date, as happened at The Cuckolds Light in Maine. A number of these stations were con ...
located on the
Kennebec River in
Arrowsic, Maine
Arrowsic is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. The population is 477 as of the 2020 United States Census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area. During the French and Indian ...
, in
Sagadahoc County. It is about SW of the front light of the
Doubling Point Range Lights, and about east of
Doubling Point Light. The pyramidal bell structure was built in 1914, two years after a large steamship, the ''
Ransom B. Fuller'', ran aground in the fog on this section of the river.
History
The signal was rung to assist ships navigating the treacherous S-bend section of the river known as Fiddler Reach. It was a bell from 1914 until the late sixties and then a horn until it was discontinued in 1982. The signal, while not part of the
Kennebec River Light Station, was tended by its station keeper. He reached it along a footpath that included a boardwalk and two wooden bridges. While it was a bell, it was rung by means of a clockwork counter weight system that had to be rewound every 4 hours. Bell signals were distinguished by the number of strokes and length of time between them. This signal was two strokes every twenty seconds.
[ (16 pages, with 3 photos)]
The structure eventually fell into disrepair. The original bell was removed by the Coast Guard in 1972 and is now displayed on the campus of the
Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut.
It was restored by volunteer effort of the "Range Light Keepers", a self-described "group of interested local Maine citizens and visitors".
A replacement bell has been obtained and kept at the Arrowsic Town Hall.
[ Until 2016 when the bell was installed on the tower's exterior ''bell arm''
The property was added to the ]National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
(NRHP) on August 5, 2009, and the listing was announced as the featured listing in the National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...
's weekly list of August 14, 2009.
See also
*Fort Point Light Station
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
, a Maine lighthouse station also having a pyramidal fog bell structure
* Perkins Island Light, four miles (6 km) downriver, also with a pyramidal fog bell structure
* Tenants Harbor Light, with a square pyramidal bell reconstructed by Jamie Wyeth
James Browning Wyeth (born July 6, 1946) is an American realist painter, son of Andrew Wyeth, and grandson of N.C. Wyeth. He was raised in Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania, and is artistic heir to the Brandywine School tradition — painter ...
.
*
Gallery
References
External links
restoration webpage
The Range Light Keepers, Arrowsic Island, Maine
{{National Register of Historic Places
Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Towers completed in 1914
Transport infrastructure completed in 1914
Transportation buildings and structures in Sagadahoc County, Maine
Kennebec River
Navigational aids
National Register of Historic Places in Sagadahoc County, Maine