Digest>Archives> Nov/Dec 2022

Painting West Quoddy’s Stripes in the 1980s

A Lighthouse Mystery

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Who is the Man on the Ladder?

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In the 1980s when the government repainted the tower at West Quoddy Head Lighthouse in Lubec, Maine, for some reason, they painted 12 stripes (6 red and 6 white), instead of the 15 stripes (8 red and 7 white) that it had previously. The tower was eventually repainted with the 15 stripes that it has to this day.

This recently discovered photograph of the tower at West Quoddy Lighthouse being painted with the wrong stripes was taken by Robert E. Prescott (1909-2003) of Shrewsbury, New Jersey. But who is the man on the ladder?

Interestingly, in 1990 the 25-cent U.S. postage stamp that featured West Quoddy Head Lighthouse showed the twelve stripes.

This story appeared in the Nov/Dec 2022 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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