Name/Title
Camping Party | Buck's Harbor, Maine | Glass Magic Lantern Slide | R. Clinton Fuller | 1884Description
CAMPING PARTY, BUCK'S HARBOR, 1884! Glass magic lantern slide in our collections that shows a camping party on the shore in Buck's Harbor in Machiasport in Washington County, Maine. Slide dates to 1884 and was taken by R. Clinton Fuller of the Providence Camera Club of Providence, Rhode Island. The slide is one of a large number of slides that have come into our collections that were taken by Fuller of the Machias Bay area of Washington County in the 1880s and 1890s.
Email from Lyman Holmes of Machias, Maine, January 16, 2025:
R. Clinton Fuller photos
Contact photo
From Lyman Holmes
To hfrench@tidesinstitute.org
Date Wed 20:50
Summary Headers Plain text
Good Afternoon Hugh,
I am very pleased that the Tides Institute is pursuing the series of photos of eastern Maine taken by R. Clinton Fuller which are listed on ebay.
As you may be aware, R. Clinton Fuller (Rufus Clinton Fuller) was a businessman from Providence, RI who married Julia Pope Ames, daughter of John K. Ames, a prominent Machias lumberman and mill owner. One of Julia's brothers was Alfred K. Ames of Machias who ran unsuccessfully for Maine governor in 1934. He is perhaps better known today as the producer of the film now known as Stump to Ship. Another brother was Edwin G. Ames who was a prominent lumberman in Washington State.
Although they resided in Providence, Clinton and Julia Fuller seemed to have spent a good deal of time in eastern Maine. The Ames family had a cottage in Bucks Harbor and that may account for the fact that many of Fuller's photos seem to be of that area. R. Clinton Fuller was the president of the Providence Camera Club at one time.
I wish we knew where the fish wharf was but I suspect that it was probably in the Bucks Harbor area.
The photos of the U.S.S. Machias (PG-5) must be of the visit of that ship and its crew to Machias in 1893. I have never seen many photos of this event.
The photo of the Rim Bridge and the Rim Road are especially interesting because they predate the railroad.
I should also note that good quality photos of the Avery Rock Lighthouse are not common.
I hope you are successful in obtaining all of these photos. We will have to talk more sometime in the future.
Best regards,
Lyman Holmes
461-6027