The lime kilns at Rockport Marine Park are the last remaining multiple-kiln collection on the Maine coast. In the late 1800s, hundreds of similar kilns burned limestone to produce a critical ingredient in plaster. The plaster produced in the kilns in Rockport, Rockland, Thomaston and other towns along Penobscot Bay were used in virtually every major building erected from Boston to Washington, D.C.
Legacy Rockport recently contracted with Gartley & Dorsky to re-survey all six of the existing kilns to determine if any movement or shifting has occurred since the earlier survey was performed about 10 years ago. We are pleased that all the kilns are stable and that no shifting or settlement has occurred. This was the first step in determining what our priorities should be.
As a result of the survey, Legacy Rockport decided to prioritize the work involved in the preservation the lime kilns located in the Marine Park.
Our efforts are, for now, concentrated on the two kilns closest to the Harbor Master’s building, otherwise known as Kilns #2 and #3 (#1 was in the vicinity of the Harbor Master’s Building and was removed so the building could be constructed).
The majority of the effort is focused on Kiln #2, the one closest to the Harbor Master’s building. The preservation efforts include adding a roof to shed water and shield the kiln from the worst of nature’s impacts, removing any vegetation growing inside and into the walls, removing the deteriorating mortar and replacing it with lime-based mortar (recent stabilization efforts used new mortar which is actually weakening the facing stones).
When work on Kiln #2 is complete, efforts will shift to Kiln #3 where the same effort is needed, though on a smaller scale. The triple kiln (#s 4, 5, and 6) and the older granite kiln (#7) are in considerably better shape, thanks to extensive work done in the 1980s on the triple kilns. That is not to say work isn’t needed, but for now removal of the invasive vegetation is all that is anticipated to those four kilns.