Halloween Tour - Bucksport Silver Lake

Basics: Silver Lake: Located on Silver Lake Rd, which is McDonald Road in town.  From Route 1: north on Route 15 beyond Bangor Savings and Bucksport Post Office. Dirt ramp, limited parking, no facilities. (Bathrooms are available at both ends of the harbor walk in downtown Bucksport.) 6 miles.

Fort Knox: Entrance Fee, flush toilets. Plenty of parking most days.

The actual date of this trip: September 15; I saved posting until now because of its haunted theme.
Carol Olivieri Schultz, in her book Ghosts on the Coast of Maine, claims there is a female ghost seen about Silver Lake on foggy nights. She makes the case that this is the ghost of 1890’s murder victim Sally Weir, seeking to have her skull reunited with her body. Sally’s skull still rests in an evidence drawer. Silver Lake was created in the 1930’s and apparently the lower end used to be a cemetery. When the dam was built the old bodies and monuments were moved. But were all the old bodies found?
We started with a quick walk along the southern shore of the lake. Crypts such as this one hidden in the woods help to verify the tale of an abandoned section of the cemetery.

We launched our boats from the official boat launch further up the lake, and began our paddle by heading north into the wind. It’s been a dry summer and the water in the lake was low.

Silver Lake would make a good substitute for Black Lake, the setting for Lake Placid, the movie (best movie about Maine ever!) Like the fictional Black Lake, Silver Lake has cattle along the shore,
and lots of stumps popping through the lake.

In fact, Silver Lake could well be an old forest burial ground.

Though the water was low we could make it behind the large island easily, and flew on the wind down to the south end. From the water, no tombstones were visible.
There was however a cute peninsula (which may sometimes be an island) near the cemetery.

It had a well build pier of stones on the shore, and a nice windbreak/back rest near a fire pit and would make a pleasant place for lunch.

Across the Lake, and Street was a newer cemetery, but looking closely I saw several older stones. Perhaps that’s where the old corpses were moved when the lake was put in?

They moved the stones; but did they move the bodies?

If you’re in Bucksport, you should take a minute to check out Buck Monument. You'll find it on Route 1, across from the Hannaford grocery store. It’s a monument many people have read about somewhere and it’s singularly unimpressive in real life. A quick stop there will help make you a more cynical person.

For Knox shrouded in obligitory creepy Maine fog

Ghosts, ghouls and more have been spotted at Fort Knox, as have brave knights, civil war soldiers and much more, mostly at events arranged by the Friends of Fort Knox.

Center Courtyard

Fort Knox was built to defend the Penobscot against a third invasion from the English, and though it’s never been fully manned, thus far it has been successful.

With a fine mix of granite, red rock and brick, and endless rooms and hallways, Fort Knox is a great place to explore.

Be sure to check out the river as well. Seals are often spotted in the fast moving currents of the narrows.
Seasonally, for an additional charge you can ride to the top of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge.

Map of Silver Lake

  A final interesting link for Strange Maine, and their story about the unsolved murder of Sarah Ware