Light Hearted ep 295 – From 1988: Maurice Babcock Jr. (Boston Light, MA); Larry Baum (Fort Point,ME); Malcolm Rouse (Owls Head, ME)

Light Hearted

Jeremy D’Entremont and Malcom Rouse at Owls Head Light Station in 1988. Photo by Charlotte Raczkowsi.

The three interviews heard in this episode date back to the summer of 1988, when Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont traveled up the Maine coast to visit lighthouses. The first interview is with Maurice Babcock Jr., at his home in Lubec, Maine. His father, Maurice Babcock Sr., was the last civilian keeper at Boston Light. He was the prinicipal keeper there from 1926 to 1941 after about a decade as a keeper at other Massachusetts light stations.

Maurice Babcock Sr. inside the lens at Boston Light, circa 1941

The second interview is with Larry Baum, the last Coast Guard keeper at Fort Point Light Station in Stockton Springs, Maine. The last interview is with Malcolm Rouse, the final Coast Guard keeper at Owls Head Light Station in midcoast Maine. The light stations at Fort Point and Owls Head were in the process of being automated when these interviews were conducted. Malcolm Rouse was also the final Coast Guard keeper at West Quoddy Head Light Station before it was automated earlier that year.

Fort Point Lighthouse in Stockton Springs, Maine, near the entrance to the Penobscot River. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.