Portland Head Light

Portland Head Light

2009
Location	Portland Head off Shore Rd., Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Coordinates	43°37′23″N 70°12′28″W / 43.62306°N 70.20778°W / 43.62306; -70.20778Coordinates: 43°37′23″N 70°12′28″W / 43.62306°N 70.20778°W / 43.62306; -70.20778
Year first constructed	1791
Year first lit	1791
Automated	1989
Foundation	Natural emplaced
Construction	Rubble stone with brick lining
Tower shape	Conical
Markings / pattern	White with black trim
Focal height	101 feet (31 m)
Original lens	Fourth order Fresnel lens
Current lens	DCB 224 airport aerobeacon
Range	24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi)
Characteristic	Flashing white 4s Lighted continuously
Fog signal	HORN: 1 blast ev 15s[1][2][3]
Portland Headlight [sic]
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	10 acres (4.0 ha)
Architect	Nichols, John; Bryant, Jonathan
NRHP Reference #	73000121[4]
Added to NRHP	April 24, 1973

Portland Head Light is a historic lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The light station sits on a head of land at the entrance of the primary shipping channel into Portland Harbor, which is within Casco Bay in the Gulf of Maine. Completed in 1791, it is the oldest lighthouse in the state of Maine. The light station is automated, and the tower, beacon, and foghorn are maintained by the United States Coast Guard, while the former lighthouse keepers' house is a maritime museum within Fort Williams Park.

History

Construction began in 1787 at the directive of George Washington, and was completed on January 10, 1791 using a fund of 1,500 dollars established by him. Whale oil lamps were originally used for illumination. In 1855, following formation of the Lighthouse Board, a fourth-order Fresnel lens was installed; that lens was replaced by a second-order Fresnel lens, which was replaced later by an aero beacon in 1958. That lens was updated with an DCB-224 aero beacon in 1991.

Original Fresnel lens

In 1787, while Maine was still part of the state of Massachusetts, George Washington engaged two masons from the town of Portland, Jonathan Bryant and John Nichols, and instructed them to take charge of the construction of a lighthouse on Portland Head. Washington reminded them that the early government was poor, and said that the materials used to build the lighthouse should be taken from the fields and shores, which could be handled nicely when hauled by oxen on a drag. The original plans called for the tower to be 58 feet tall. When the masons completed this task they climbed to the top of the tower and realized that it would not be visible beyond the headlands to the south, so it was raised approximately 20 feet.

The tower was built of rubblestone, and Washington gave the masons four years to build it. While it was under construction in 1789, the federal government was being formed and for a while it looked as though the lighthouse would not be finished. Following passage of their ninth law,^[5] the first congress made an appropriation and authorized the Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, to inform the mechanics that they could go on with the completion of the tower. On August 10, 1790, the second session of congress appropriated a sum not to exceed $1500, and under the direction of the President, “to cause the said lighthouse to be finished and completed accordingly.”^[6] The tower was completed during 1790 and first lit January 10, 1791.

During the American Civil War, raids on shipping in and out of Portland Harbor became commonplace, and because of the necessity for ships at sea to sight Portland Head Light as soon as possible, the tower was raised twenty feet. The current keepers' house was built in 1891. When Halfway Rock Light was built, Portland Head Light was considered less important and in 1883 the tower was shortened 20 feet (6.1 m) and a weaker fourth-order Fresnel lens was added. The former height and second-order Fresnel lens was restored in 1885 following mariners' complaints.

The station has changed little except for the rebuilding of the whistle house in 1975 due to it being badly damaged in a storm. Today, Portland Head Light stands 80 feet (24 m) above ground and 101 feet (31 m) above water, its white conical tower being connected with a dwelling. The 224 airport style aerobeacon is visible for 24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi). The 400 watt metal halide lamp is rated for 20,000 hours and produces 36,000 lumens of light at 200,000 candlepower. The grounds, and keeper's house are owned by the town of Cape Elizabeth, while the beacon, and fog signal are owned and maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard as a current aid to navigation. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Portland Head light (sic) on April 24, 1973, reference number 73000121.

Keepers

Gallery

• 
  1917
• 
  1933
• 
  2009
• 
  2012

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Portland Head Lighthouse.

• Annie C. Maguire shipwreck
• Port of Portland, ME
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Cumberland County, Maine

References

External links

• Portland Head Light - official site

Lighthouses of Maine
Avery Rock Light Baker Island Light Bass Harbor Head Light Bear Island Light Blue Hill Bay Light Boon Island Light Browns Head Light Burnt Coat Harbor Light Burnt Island Light Cape Elizabeth Lights Cape Neddick Light Crabtree Ledge Light The Cuckolds Light Curtis Island Light Deer Island Thorofare Light Dice Head Light Doubling Point Light Doubling Point Range Lights Eagle Island Light Egg Rock Light Fiddler's Reach Fog Signal Fort Point Light Franklin Island Light Goat Island Light Goose Rocks Light Great Duck Island Light Grindel Point Light Halfway Rock Light Hendricks Head Light Heron Neck Light Indian Island Light Isle au Haut Light Ladies Delight Light Libby Island Light Little River Light Lubec Channel Light Marshall Point Light Matinicus Rock Light Monhegan Island Light Moose Peak Light Mount Desert Light Narraguagus Light Nash Island Light Owls Head Light Pemaquid Point Light Perkins Island Light Petit Manan Light Pond Island Light Portland Breakwater Light Portland Head Light Prospect Harbor Point Light Pumpkin Island Light Ram Island Light Ram Island Ledge Light Rockland Harbor Breakwater Light Saddleback Ledge Light Saint Croix River Light Seguin 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 Light Wood Island Light