BRISTOL, Maine — A fierce storm tore apart one of Maine’s most familiar historic buildings. The old Fog Bell House at Pemaquid Point suffered heavy damage when the wall facing the ocean was ripped open.
The bell house, with its white wooden tower, is close to the famous Pemaquid Point Lighthouse and is visited by hundreds of thousands of people every year. For generations, the small brick house has been a spot where people would shelter from the wind while watching the surf during a storm.
As far as we know, no one was there to see it happen, but the front wall and an end wall caved in, with the huge bell ending up inside with a pile of bricks and broken wood. It's not clear whether waves hit that high, or if it was primarily caused by the wind.
Before dawn, as the storm was raging, the automated weather station near the lighthouse reported wind at 54 miles per hour, with gusts up to 68 mph.
