The old bridge at Wicassett spanned the Sheepscot River for decades and I loved the hum of tires over the steel gird. A new bridge replaced the old, but Wicassett's primary attraction were the two rotting hulks wallowing in the mud flats. Their state of ruin spoke shipwreck to my boyish mind, but these two ships once transported timber from Maine to the world along with hundreds of other coastal schooners.
The Hesper and the Luther Little were the last two ships of their kind. Every year Maine's winter ravaged the sailing schooners, yet they withstood the harsh treatment of Nature. Two teenage boys set fire to the relics, damaging them to such a state that the town had them dismantled as a safety hazard.
Of course they could have remained in their final berth for another half-century if it were not for the threat of legal suits. The Hesper and the Luther Little joined the hum of car tires over the Wicassett Bridge. Something gone but not forgotten
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