Historical Materials

The Curtis Island Light is located on the seven-acre Curtis Island, a short distance off the coastline of Camden, Maine in the Penobscot Bay. The island was formerly known as Negro Island because the African-American cook of early settler, James Richards, admired the island greatly, but was later named Curtis Island in memory of Camden summertime resident, Cyrus H. K. Curtis. The original lighthouse was built in 1835 by contractor George Gault. Fifteen years later, an inspection report from 1850 stated that the lighthouse needed "immediate attention" and in 1855 the lighthouse was given a wooden outer sheath and new shingling in an attempt to stop the leaks. Lane painted the Curtis Island Light on at least two separate occasions, in 1852 and 1855, during his trips to the Maine coast.

This is information has been shared with the Lane project by Jeremy D'Entremont. More information can be found on his website, www.newenglandlighthouses.net and in his book The Lighthouse Handbook of New England.