A Jonesport couple will open a new vintage clothing store in downtown Bangor this spring to help preserve a nearly 200-year-old lighthouse they own.
Jeremy Richardson and Miriam Davidson plan to open Log Jam Vintage at 8 Harlow St. in early May. The storefront on the corner of State and Harlow streets last held Grass Roots of Maine before the business closed earlier this year.
The store will sell a variety of men’s and women’s clothing and accessories mostly made during and before the 1990s that evoke the rugged style and feel of Maine. Customers can expect to find mostly domestically-made clothing from brands such as L.L. Bean, Lands’ End and Levi’s. The store will be filled with antique furniture and decorations, Richardson said.
“It will be clothing for everyone made with that classic Maine style,” Richardson said. “The name ‘Log Jam Vintage’ is also a nod to the rich logging history in Maine. When you walk in, it’ll feel like you’re walking into an old logging camp.”
While the new business will sit next to White Lobster Vintage, Richardson said he believes there’s high demand in Bangor for more vintage stores that revive older pieces of clothing that are often higher quality than what shoppers can find today.
“The whole purpose of vintage is you’re repurposing things in an age where everyone buys new things and gets rid of perfectly good old things,” Richardson said. “We find the old stuff and breathe new life into it.”
The couple plans to use the profits from the business to rehabilitate and maintain Moose Peak Lighthouse, which the couple bought in 2018. Built in 1826, the lighthouse sits on 30-acre Mistake Island off the coast of Jonesport.
“It wasn’t our intention to purchase a lighthouse,” Richardson said. “We were living in Augusta and had five dogs at the time and we were looking for a remote spot with acreage on the water.”
The pair worked with a real estate agent who would send lists of properties for sale that fit what the couple was looking for, and the lighthouse was one of them. The couple initially dismissed the listing because “it made no sense and was impractical,” but later decided to look at the property, Richardson said.
“Long story short, two days later we were on a lobster boat and decided to buy it,” Richardson said. “It’s an incredible, untamed spot that we’re fortunate to be stewards of at the moment.”
While the couple lives on the mainland in Jonesport, they travel by boat to visit Moose Peak Lighthouse frequently and have the challenge of maintaining the structure, the wooden boardwalk that leads to the lighthouse and the land around it.
The U.S. Coast Guard operates the light, which still serves as a navigation aid, but Richardson and Davidson are responsible for maintaining the property and rehabilitating the lighthouse.
“The goal is to do what we can to preserve the history of the lighthouse, but that takes a lot of money,” Richardson said. “A large sum can disappear very quickly to do the work that needs to be done out there — north of $1 million. It’s not going to fall down, but it needs some serious structural repair.”
The couple has been selling vintage clothing in Portland and online for more than a decade to support the maintenance of the island and lighthouse. The downtown Bangor storefront will be the first brick and mortar location for the operation, Davidson said.
Richardson and Davidson weren’t planning to open a store in Bangor, but stumbled across the empty storefront while visiting the Queen City for the high school basketball tournament last month, they said.
“Within 24 hours, we were inside the space and, just like when we bought the lighthouse, everything fell into place and it just made sense,” Richardson said. “It’s a cool building with old bones and I saw such potential in that space.”
