The Lighthouse Companion for Maine

Photographs by Paul Rezendes

Published by Tide-mark Press
Windsor, Connecticut

Contents

Introduction to Maine Lighthouses

Baker Island Light

Bass Harbor Head Light

Bear Island Light

Blue Hill Bay Light

Boon Island Light

Browns Head Light

Burnt Coat Harbor (Hockamock Head) Light

Burnt Island Light

Cape Elizabeth (Two Lights) Light

Cape Neddick (Nubble) Light

Cuckolds Light, The

Curtis Island Light

Deer Island Thorofare (Mark Island) Light

Dice (Dyce) Head Light

Doubling Point Light

Eagle Island Light

Egg Rock Light

First Light Bed & Breakfast

Fort Point Light

Franklin Island Light

Goat Island Light

Goose Rocks Light

Great Duck Island Light

Grindle Point Light

Halfway Rock Light

Hendricks Head Light

Heron Neck Light

Indian Island Light

Isle au Haut Light

Kennebec River Range Lights (Doubling Point Range Lights)

Ladies Delight Light

Libby Island Light

Little Mark Island Monument

Little River Light

Lubec Channel Light

Marshall Point Light

Matinicus Rock Light

Monhegan Island Light

Moose Peak Light

Mount Desert Rock Light

Narraguagus (Pond) Island Light

Nash Island Light

Owls Head Light

Pemaquid Point Light

Perkins Island Light

Petit Manan Light

Pond Island Light

Portland Breakwater (Bug) Light

Portland Head Light

Prospect Harbor Point Light

Pumpkin Island Light

Ram Island Ledge Light

Ram Island Light

Rockland Breakwater Light

Rockland Harbor Southwest Light

Saddleback Ledge Light

Seguin Island Light

Spring Point Ledge Light

Squirrel Point Light

Tenants Harbor Light

Two Bush Island Light

West Quoddy Head Light

Whaleback Light

Whitehead Light

Whitlocks Mill Light

Winter Harbor (Mark Island) Light

Wood Island Light

Appendix

Maine Calendar of Events

Accommodations and Other Sites of Interest in Maine

Bibliography

Copyright

Maine Lighthouses

West Quoddy Head Light, Lubec, Maine

Maine has more than sixty existing lighthouses—including the nation’s easternmost lighthouse—marking the many harbors, islands, rocky ledges, and riverbanks of its over 3,000 miles of shoreline. Maine’s lighthouses and their keepers have endured cold ocean winds, snowstorms, heavy fog, and the highest tides in the continental United States. Most of these light stations are active aids to navigation—a testament to their longevity and functionality in this age of depth finders and global positioning systems. With their distinctive markings and lighting patterns, Maine’s light stations warn both commercial vessels and pleasure boats of dangers and establish locations, helping sailors find their way through fog, storms, and dark of night.

Dating back as far as the Revolutionary War, Maine lighthouses were sometimes a part of history as it unfolded, bearing silent witness to horrible tragedies as well as heartwarming stories of lives saved. Some lighthouses still display 200-year-old armament on the property, reminding us of a day when we defended our shores. Others suffered damage at the hands of the enemy. Light keepers have often been known to go above and beyond the duty of keeping the light lit, risking their own lives to pull others out of the freezing water, sometimes with the aid of wives, children, and at least once, a dog. Let this guide take you on a tour of Maine’s lighthouses, and discover their romance and history for yourself.

Maine Lighthouse Locations by Number

Baker Island Light

The Cranberry Isles, Maine

Baker Island, a small, rocky island at the southwestern entrance to Frenchman Bay, was pioneered by William and Hannah Gilley in the early 19th century. When John Quincy Adams ordered a lighthouse to be built on the island in 1828 to warn mariners of the shoals around the five Cranberry Isles and the sandbar adjacent to Little Cranberry Island, William Gilley was appointed keeper at a salary of $350 per year.

The Gilley family prospered on the island, despite the challenges of isolation and self-sufficiency. William Gilley served as light keeper for 20 years before being ousted in 1849 for not belonging to the dominant Whig party. Though offered an opportunity to retain his position if he were to switch political allegiances, it is said that Gilley stated he would not switch political parties “for all the lighthouses in the United States.” Thus, he moved to nearby Great Duck Island, though many of his children remained and eventually raised their own families on Baker Island.

Today, Baker Island Light remains an active aid to navigation, though it is maintained by the National Park Service as part of Acadia National Park. In addition to the tower, which was replaced in 1855 with a 43-foot cylindrical brick tower equipped with a fourth-order Fresnel lens, visitors can see the keeper’s quarters, oil house, fuel house, and two storage buildings.

Directions

Baker Island Light is located at the southwest entrance of Frenchman Bay on the opposite side of the Cranberry Isles. It is viewable only by boat. There are no park-organized tours of the light, but private charters are available. The station is only open to the public in the summer.

Latitude: 44° 14' 30" N

Longitude: 68° 11' 54" W

Bass Harbor Head Light

Bass Harbor, Maine

Built in 1858 on a rocky hill on Mount Desert Island, Bass Harbor Head Light marks the entrance to Blue Hill Bay and Bass Harbor, particularly the sand bar at Bass Harbor. It is southwest of the Cranberry Isles on Acadia National Park property. One of Maine’s most photographed lighthouses, Bass Harbor Head Light attracts legions of visitors from both near and far.

The light station at Bass Harbor Head is the original structure, built of stone and brick in a cylindrical tower with the original wood-frame keeper’s quarters still attached. Originally equipped with a fifth-order Fresnel lens, the current working lens is a fourth-order Fresnel installed in 1902. It has a red light occulting every 4 seconds. The tower is 32 feet tall with a focal plane at 56 feet above sea level. The station is equipped with a fog bell, but it is inactive. Owned by the U.S. Coast Guard, Bass Harbor Head Light is still an active aid to navigation.

Because they house Coast Guard staff, the keeper’s quarters are not open to the public, although the grounds are.

Directions

Take I-95 to Bangor. Take Route 1A south to Ellsworth. Take Route 3 east/south to Mount Desert Island. Take Route 102 south to Southwest Harbor, about 10 miles from the head of the island. Go through Southwest Harbor and take Route 102A south. Go about 6 miles to the turn to the lighthouse; it is about a mile down.

Latitude: 44° 13' 18" N

Longitude: 68° 20' 12" W

Bear Island Light

The Cranberry Isles, Maine

Bear Island Light was designed at its inception in 1839 as a family lighthouse, and at one point even hosted a family pet—a dog named Cleo owned by Terry Stanley, who served as keeper of the beacon in the 1950s.

Ordered by President Van Buren in 1839, the first structure, made of stone with a tower on top, burned in 1852. It was replaced by 1853, but in 1889, because the building was badly decayed, the current brick structure was built on the order of President Harrison.

Though family lights were a coveted property for Coast Guard keepers, Bear Island Light was deactivated in 1981 and became the property of Acadia National Park. In 1989, the park established a long-term lease of the property to a private owner, who, along with the Friends of Acadia, has refurbished the property to make it suitable for occupancy. The 3.4-acre property consists of a two-story, 31-foot light tower complete with a fifth-order Fresnel lens. Also on the premises are the keeper’s quarters, a stone oil house, a barn, and a boathouse.

Directions

The lighthouse is privately leased and not open to the public. Though there is no place to land a craft, the lighthouse can be seen from the water. Charters are available out of Northeast Harbor.

Latitude: 44° 17' 00" N

Longitude: 68° 16' 12" W

Blue Hill Bay Light

Also known as Eggemoggin Light Green Island, Maine

Built on a very small, rocky tract of land known as Green Island, Blue Hill Bay Light was erected in 1857 by order of President Pierce. Also known as Eggemoggin Light, Blue Hill Bay Light marks the entrance to Blue Hill Bay as well as Eggemoggin Reach, which connects Blue Hill Bay with Penobscot Bay. In the 19th century the area was a busy place for shippers of ice and lumber and was popular with tourists, as well.

The 22-foot, cylindrical brick tower was originally equipped with a fourth-order Fresnel lens that shone 26 feet above sea level. The light was deactivated in 1933 and replaced in 1935 by a skeleton tower with a solar-powered optic that flashes green every 4 seconds. Now used as a private home, the original light is attached to the wood-frame, Cape Cod–style keeper’s quarters by a small brick chartroom. There is just enough room on the island for the boathouse and oil house built in 1905.

Directions

Blue Hill Bay Light is located on Green Island in Blue Hill Bay, 3.7 miles southeast of Brooklin. It is not viewable from land. The property is privately owned and not open to the public.

Latitude: 44° 14' 54" N

Longitude: 68° 29' 54" W

Boon Island Light

York, Maine

In 1710, the British merchant ship Nottingham Galley ran aground, stranding Captain John Deanne and his sailors and forcing them to resort to cannibalism for survival. This is just one tragic tale in the history of the ironically named Boon Island—and one of the reasons Boon Island Light was established in 1779.

Not much more than a flat, 700-foot-long rock outcropping about 9 miles off the coast of York, Boon Island and its lighthouse were vulnerable to Mother Nature’s tempests. The original tower, built in 1799, was washed from the flat, isolated island in 1804 and not replaced until 1811, when a 25-foot structure was built. In 1831 that structure was washed away, as well, and its replacement was so small, it was hardly noticeable. In 1855, the 133-foot, cylindrical granite tower we see now was built.

In later years, storms continued to do powerful damage, both to the lighthouse and its inhabitants. One mid-19th-century keeper brought his young bride to accompany him on his assignment. One stormy night the keeper fell ill, and the young woman kept vigil by his side, taking breaks only to keep the tower lighted, knowing lives depended on it. Sadly, her husband died, and despondent over her loss, she lost her strength and was found a few days later, wandering and demented.

Two lightkeepers were present at the lighthouse during the Blizzard of 1978. During the storm the keeper’s quarters, supply building, and boat house were all blown off the island, leaving the men nowhere to take shelter but the lantern room. After the men were rescued the next day, the light was automated so no more lives would be endangered.

Originally equipped with a second-order Fresnel lens, Boon Island Light now has a VEGA VRB-25 solar-powered automated optic that shines 137 feet above sea level, flashes white every 5 seconds, and can be seen for 19 miles.

Directions

Boon Island Light is best seen by boat. Charters are available out of Portsmouth or Rye, New Hampshire. In addition, a distant view is possible from the Cape Neddick (Nubble) Light. From I-95 outside of York, take exit 4 and travel east to Route 1. Go north to Nubble Road and turn east. Take Nubble Road to Sohier Park to view both Boon Island Light and Cape Neddick (Nubble) Light. The tower is not open to the public.

Latitude: 43° 07' 18" N

Longitude: 70° 28' 36" W

Browns Head Light

Vinalhaven, Maine

Serving Vinalhaven Island’s fishing, lobstering, and granite industries since before the Civil War, Browns Head Light has always been a popular sight-seeing attraction. In the early days, keepers were 6 or 7 miles from the nearest town and they welcomed visits from tourists and vacationers.

Browns Head Light is located on the northwest side of the island in Penobscot Bay. Established in 1832 by order of President Jackson, the original rubblestone tower was replaced with the current 20-foot, black-and-white brick cylindrical tower in 1857 by order of President Buchanan. The original fifth-order Fresnel lens was replaced by a fourth-order lens in 1902. That lens, still in use today, shines a continuous white light at 39 feet above sea level, making it visible for up to 14 miles.