Joseph Barker Stearns was the president of Franklin Telegraph Company when he invented a duplex system of telegraphy. In 1871, he sold patent rights for this two-way communication to Western Union. His stream of royalties gave him the wealth to pursue his fantasy of building a European-style castle in 1886. The 10,330 square foot, Victorian house designed by Arthur Bates has a stone façade and a spectacular turret. Stearns called it Norumbega Castle. This name was a phantom settlement in today’s Maine first reported in 1542 by Jean Alfonse, a Portuguese navigator. The landmark along Penobscot Bay is now The Norumbega Inn.
