Digest>Archives> Nov/Dec 2020

Maine Lighthouse Keeper Dies

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Marshall Point Lighthouse as it appeared in 1952 ...

Ralph K. Banks, 98, who was a Maine Coast Guard keeper at Eagle Island Lighthouse from 1949 to 1952 and Marshall Point Lighthouse from 1952 to 1963, recently passed away in Florida. At press time, he was scheduled to be buried in the Veterans Cemetery in Augusta, Maine.

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Ralph Banks in shown here in the keeper’s house ...

In the book, A Family Island in Penobscot Bay, The story of Eagle Island he is quoted as saying, “On Eagle Island, for the first time in my life, I found real friends and neighbors. There are no words to express how I enjoyed my relations with the people of Eagle Island. I can only express my feelings toward this island as the best place I have ever lived in my life.” But island life came to an end when he was transferred to the land-based Marshall Point Lighthouse in Port Clyde.

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Ralph Banks cleaning the lens and polishing the ...

Life was also good for his family at Marshall Point Lighthouse, with the exception that it was like living in a fish bowl with hundreds of tourists making their way each year to visit the picturesque and tranquil lighthouse-setting at the entrance to Port Clyde Harbor in Penobscot Bay.

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The Banks family enjoying Christmas in the ...


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The Ralph Banks family is shown here, perhaps ...


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The light tower and fog bell tower in 1957 when ...


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Marshall Point Lighthouse as it appears today.
Photo by: Ronald J. Foster


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Ralph Banks and his wife Isadora in 1997 on a ...

This story appeared in the Nov/Dec 2020 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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