Join hosts Jeremy D’Entremont and Michelle Jewell Shaw for an interview with Ford Reiche, the award-winning owner of remote Halfway Rock Lighthouse in Casco Bay in Maine.
Ford Reiche has been an attorney and an entrepreneur; in 2008 he was named the Maine Small Businessperson of the Year and the Mainebiz Business Leader of the Year. He is also a trustee of Maine Preservation.
Ford has acquired and restored several buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, including his most recent project, a railroad station in Yarmouth. The subject of the interview in this episode of Light Hearted is his amazing restoration of Halfway Rock Lighthouse, far out in Casco Bay, 10 miles from Portland.
The granite lighthouse, which was built in 1871, gets its name because it’s halfway between Cape Elizabeth to the south and Cape Small to the north. Ford Reiche bought the lighthouse at auction from the federal government in 2014.
The Maine Preservation Association recognized the project with its 2016 Preservation Award, and the American Lighthouse Foundation presented Ford Reiche a 2017 “Keeper of the Light” award honoring his “contribution to the preservation of America’s lighthouses and their rich tradition.”
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U.S. Lighthouse Society Historian Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of 24 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. He is a past president of the American Lighthouse Foundation and founder of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, and he has lectured and narrated cruises throughout the Northeast and in other regions. He is also the producer and host of the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s weekly podcast, “Light Hearted.” He can be emailed at Jeremy@uslhs.org
I believe the Light itself on Halfway Rock is called Websters Light for many years that is what appeared on the NOAA Charts
Thanks for your comment. I have never seen it listed as anything but Halfway Rock on the official federal light lists.
There is an unlighted navigational buoy near Halfway Rock that marks Webster Rock, as it turns out. So they are close to each other, but they are two separate places.
Parabéns pelo trabalho.
Assistindo aqui um documentário do Brasil virei seu fã Ford! O mundo precisa de mais pessoas dedicadas como você!
Translation from Portuguese: Congratulations for the work. Watching documentary from Brazil I became a fan of Ford! The world needs more dedicated people like you!
We went out there today ! Absolutely beautiful . Thank you for sharing this remarkable lighthouse with everyone
You’re welcome! It is an amazing place.