What’s more than forty stories tall, shaped like an obelisk, and built of Maine granite? 

a) the Washington Monument
b) the Penobscot Narrows Bridge support towers
c) both

By Alec Palmer

The Penobscot Narrows Bridge is one of just four bridge observatories standing in the world today. At 420 feet (forty-two stories), it’s the tallest occupied structure in Maine, and the highest bridge observatory on the planet, according to Maine.gov. The observatory provides a 360-degree panoramic view of the surrounding countryside, including historic Fort Knox. Eileen Bartlett has been a part-time usher for the observatory for the past three years.

What drew you to this unusual job? Do you have any personal connection to the bridge?

My grandpa grew up a half mile from here. His father drowned in the river on Thanksgiving Day, 1894, two months before my grandpa was born. That was back when a ferry ran between Fort Knox and Bucksport. The old Waldo-Hancock Bridge was built in 1931.

I used to be terrified of the Waldo-Hancock Bridge. Did it scare you too?

No, not really. When I was a kid, a friend and I would get in the middle of the bridge and wait for a truck to pass by and make the suspension bridge shake up and down!

What happens when someone gets vertigo in the observatory?

I’ve never seen anyone panic. They’ll say, “Oh god, we’re high!” and they’ll have to come right down, but it doesn’t happen every day. People are warned that it’s floor-to-ceiling glass, so you can look straight out at the horizon. Some people end up hugging the wall the whole time.

Read the full story in the digital magazine above.