ROCKLAND, Maine — The city’s deep ties to the Coast Guard were reinforced Thursday when Rockland renamed one of its streets after both the military branch and one of its former members known as “Mr. Lighthouse.”
But there is no need to get a change of address card for businesses along the street.
A ceremony was held Thursday afternoon across from the agency’s housing complex on the street to honor one of its former chief warrant officers. The new name for Tillson Avenue is “USCG Memorial Street Tillson Avenue CWO Ken Black.”
The city council agreed to add Ken Black’s name to that of the street but City Clerk Stuart Sylvester said it is not a formal change of street name because that requires the council to follow the formal ordinance process which requires two votes and a formal public hearing. In this case, city officials and the Coast Guard agreed that adding the Coast Guard and Black’s name to a new street sign would be a deserved honor.
The city clerk said while the street will now be known with the longer name, it is similar to people referring to South Main Street when technically there is no South Main but only the stretch of Main Street in the South End of the city.
A formal renaming would have led to address changes for mail purposes.
City and Coast Guard officials, however, said the unofficial name change recognizes the contribution that both the Coast Guard and Mr. Lighthouse made to the community.
“Ken Black had the courage and tenacity to save the heart and soul of lighthouse history,” said retired Chief Warrant Officer Paul Dilger during the ceremony.
Black was known as Mr. Lighthouse. He retired from the Coast Guard in 1973 and then made it his life’s mission to collect lighthouse artifacts from across the country and create a museum in Rockland originally known as the Shore Village Museum. That museum relocated in 2005 to Park Drive and was renamed the Maine Lighthouse Museum with the largest collection of lighthouse items in the country.
The museum is within sight of the street now named for Black. He died in January 2007.
Rockland Mayor Louise MacLellan-Ruf said the renaming of the street was a no-brainer because of the close ties the city has with the Coast Guard and because of Black’s work.
Rockland is recognized as one of 20 Coast Guard cities across the United States. Rockland became a Coast Guard city in 2008 because of its efforts to recognize the service of crewmembers at the Rockland station and the vessels homeported in Rockland. The city holds dinners for the Coast Guard each year and sponsors events for members and their families.
Coast Guard members, the public, and family members of Black were in attendance with his son Joe Wyman and widow Dot Black helping to unveil the new street sign.
The Coast Guard has had a presence in Rockland since before World War II.