Kennebunkport, ME, late 1930s. Electric Distribution Pole Lines Thru Village Center

By Joe Maurath, Jr.; posted October 1, 2022

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This coastal Maine community is about 15 miles south of Portland, ME and about 20 miles north of the New Hampshire border. The electric utility at the time (Central Maine Power) used a great many pintype, three-tiered Lapp fog-type insulators on their primary-voltage lines commencing around 1930. Most were bottom-rest (unglazed) however some were of the top-firing-rest design as well. The latter were a very nice pumpkin color, likely made in the 1950s. The earlier examples (bottom rest) had an assortment of mahogany, tan and mixed glazes. Owing to these insulators' rather unusual design, some were saved through the years and still periodically appear in antique shops, flea markets, estate sales, etc.

The slightly larger insulators on the top crossarms could likely be of this interesting Lapp design. I recall seeing a number of them in service in Kennebunkport until the 1990s when the utility upgraded its primary voltage, poles and lines.

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