The schooner Alice E. Clark half-sunk on Coombs Ledge off Islesboro.
SEARSPORT — For decades, the town has boasted of its sea captains and their voyages to the four corners of the world. If there were any doubt about the truth behind this pride, a visit to the True-Fowler-Ross House, a 19th century residence now part of the Penobscot Marine Museum campus, puts it to rest.
There’s a gallery of photographs spanning two walls in the back of the house that makes the point—scores of captain faces look down at visitors. In all, 284 Searsport ship captains hailed from this small coastal town.
Coinciding with the museum’s summer exhibit, “For Those in Peril: Shipwrecks, Memorials and Rescues,” a star has been added to the portrait of each captain who died at sea. The captain may have perished when the ship went down or died from disease contracted in exotic ports of call. Both were all-too-common ends.
Click here to read the full story by Tom Groening at The Working Waterfront