File:Ram Island Lighthouse - Flickr - Me in ME.jpg

I took this just a few minutes after sunrise while on a boat tour of lighthouses near Boothbay Harbor, Maine. The last time I was on this tour, there was a long catwalk from the lighthouse to the keeper's house. Below is a piece from the Boothbay Register newspaper.

The Jan. 10, 2023 storm that blasted the Maine coast took a piece of Boothbay region maritime history. The storm destroyed the lighthouse walkway at the 1883 Ram Island Light Station and damaged the island’s landing area. The 214-foot walkway, a reconstruction of the original, was installed in 2002 to connect the five-acre island to the adjacent light tower. Its piers supported five 40-foot sections and one 14-foot section. Ryan said the process, from designing and fabrication on shore to installation on the island, took several months. “Regarding costs ... let’s just say it wasn’t inexpensive,” he said. The original walkway had collapsed and was subsequently removed by the Coast Guard in the 1970s as part of its own restoration efforts, according to the Trust. Currently, the Trust stewards the island, lighthouse and other buildings, and the Ram Island Light Station is on the National Register of Historic Places. However, the Coast Guard maintains the light operation, which was automated in 1965. Ryan said the Coast Guard still has access to the light by way of a ladder on the north side of the tower, and there are no plans to rebuild the walkway.