A Plan for Solving a Century-Old Challenge
The above photograph shows the island access in 1911. The structure on the right is the dock for use at high tide. The slipway from the boathouse is the lightkeeper’s way of launching a boat at any tide. This image is a visual reminder of the difficulty of access, which has not changed since the first Light Station was placed on the island in 1835.
Since the establishment of the Light Station in 1835, access to Curtis Island, although just a half mile from the Town Landing, has always been limited by the harbor’s 8 to 12 foot tides. Access to the island originally featured a dock with stairs usable at high tide and a boathouse with a slipway for all-tide access. These facilities were essential for the lightkeeper and his lifesaving dory.
Recent winter storms destroyed both sets of stairs on Curtis. As the Curtis Island Lighthouse Foundation (CILF) embarks on a significant historic restoration project, the necessity of a safe and adequate landing has become even more critical.
The upcoming restoration of Curtis Island is a massive undertaking, requiring the transport of contractors, craftsmen, volunteers, and materials. CILF is committed to ensuring that this project proceeds smoothly, with minimal disruption to the island’s delicate environment.
To address these challenges, the Foundation is working closely with the Town to implement a new access plan. This plan involves re-purposing eight floats from Steamboat Landing, which are currently scheduled to be replaced. The plan under development features a fixed ramp which will connect the island field area, which is approximately 15 feet above mean high tide, to a large ledge which lies on the shoreline. Then a movable ramp extends from the ledge down to the first of the eight sections of floating docks relocated from Steamboat Landing. This setup will stretch about 160 feet into the water, reaching depths sufficient for a transport boat to dock at all tides.
The island access project is not inexpensive, estimated at a total of $150,000. With the Town providing the Steamboat Landing floats and a recently awarded Maine Lighthouse Foundation grant, CILF has made a great start on the initial goals of the Curtis Island Restoration plan. As CILF looks to the future, we remain committed to maintaining the legacy of Curtis Island, ensuring it remains accessible for generations to come.
Preliminary Design courtesy of Rockport Steel
First Project for 2025: Restoring Curtis Island’s Historic Barn
In 2025, CILF has prioritized restoring the Light Station’s historic barn. The barn’s sills are rotted, its granite stone foundation has shifted and the first floor has separated where the floor joists meet the sills. An extensive restoration is necessary, beginning with the foundation walls.
The restoration process will involve raising the barn approximately six feet. This elevation will allow workers to create a footing to reset and re-mortar the granite foundation blocks, which will support new sills and floor joists. Once the foundation is secure, the barn will be lowered back into place, and restoration can continue.
This phase will also involve resetting the barn door, reglazing windows, replacing cedar shingle siding, and replacing roof shingles.
Once the barn restoration is completed, the barn will provide an enclosed space both for contractors and as a space for CILF to host community events. These practical uses underscore the barn’s importance not only as a historical structure but also as a functional part of the island’s restoration efforts, which will focus on restoration of the lightkeeper’s house, light tower, and oil shed in 2026-2029.
The cost for the barn project, as estimated in the Historic Buildings Architect’s report, is over $500,000, including the cost of access described above.
Using a combination of professional and volunteer help, including CILF’s essential “clerk of the works” role, we believe the barn restoration can be completed at a projected cost of $250,000.
Remembering Curtis Island’s Longest-Serving Lightkeeper
Deedee Conover swimming underneath the light tower.
In the spring of 1979, Deedee and Connie Conover and their four children, who had been living for several summers aboard their 30-foot sailboat in Camden Harbor, towed a float from town to Curtis Island to join the line of keepers of this renowned island lighthouse station.
With ropes and hoists they hauled a stove, refrigerator, beds, pots, pans and their worldly belongings up the steep shore and to the far end of the island. As Deedee wrote in her delightful book, Stories of Curtis Island 1978 - 2022, “there was no electricity, no water and no bathroom. We couldn’t believe how lucky we were.”
At least once a year for many decades Deedee would swim around the mile-and-a-half circumference of Curtis Island. “Something about floating and the rhythm of the stroke appealed to her spirit as her course carved an arc in the water parallel to the shore…swimming past the points and coves underneath the light tower, the house and the place where two chairs looked down the bay,” her son David recalled in a story he wrote about his mother for Island Journal.
Deedee said that their four children would learn more from the island than she could ever teach them. She wanted them to be curious and independent and reminded herself, “to just let them be there and be part of it...The island would take care of us and we would take care of it for the people of Camden.”
At the end of the summer of 2022, 43 years after the Conover family first arrived, Deedee said goodbye to her island life. She returned for a visit in the summer of 2023 and then a year later on September 16, 2024, surrounded by her children, she passed peacefully away. The morning Deedee died, a group of volunteers happened to be on Curtis Island. Everywhere they turned — outside in the gardens she planted and inside the rooms of the keepers house she presided over — Deedee’s gentle spirit pervaded its atmosphere. She joined Connie, her beloved husband and island partner, leaving behind a lasting legacy of the longest-serving volunteer lightkeeper in Curtis Island’s history. It was as if the island had inhaled deeply and was holding its breath for the next part of Curtis Island’s lighthouse history that had begun in 1835, when the first lighthouse and buildings had been constructed.
The Town of Camden and the Conover family have planned a memorial celebration for Deedee Conover on June 21st, 2025, to celebrate her life. The celebration will also recognize Connie and the remarkable legacy of the island adventurers who infused new life in an abandoned island light station and served as beacons of care and continuing stewardship for the rest of us to follow decades into the future.
Curtis Island Lighthouse Foundation - 2024 Highlights
Photo by Charlie Conover
Received IRS 501(c)(3) status as a public charity
Recruited Board and Advisory Council of 20 community members
Co-funded a $50,000 historic conditions assessment and preservation plan
Restored a 13-foot Boston Whaler for island access
Mobilized a network of 50 volunteers and organized 6 volunteer workdays on island
Published 4 issues of Island Lighthouse Journal
Established the www.curtisisland.org website
Received over $100,000 in initial donations from 75 donors
Received a $25,000 grant from the Maine Lighthouse Trust toward island access plan.
Negotiated agreement with the Deer Isle-Stonington Historical Society to return the original 1,000-pound bell to Curtis Island