Portland Head Light
Encyclopedia
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
in Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Cape Elizabeth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The town is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area...
that sits at the entrance of the shipping channel into Casco Bay
Casco Bay
Casco Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine, New England, United States. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth...
. The headlight was the first built by the United States government, and is now a part of Fort Williams Park
Fort Williams Park
Fort Williams Park is a 90 acre park in Cape Elizabeth, Maine encompassing numerous historical sites. Perhaps most famous for having Portland Head Light on its grounds, the park also encompasses the decommissioned and largely demolished United States Army post "Fort Williams", which was...
.
History
Construction began in 1787 at the directive of George WashingtonGeorge Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, and was completed on January 10, 1791. Whale oil
Whale oil
Whale oil is the oil obtained from the blubber of various species of whales, particularly the three species of right whale and the bowhead whale prior to the modern era, as well as several other species of baleen whale...
lamps were originally used for illumination. In 1855 a fourth-order Fresnel lens
Fresnel lens
A Fresnel lens is a type of lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses.The design allows the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design...
was installed; that was replaced by a second-order Fresnel lens in which was replaced by an aero beacon in 1958 . That lens was replaced with an DCB-224
DCB-224
The model DCB-224 is a high-power spotlight designed and built by Carlisle & Finch. Originally intended for use use as an aero beacon, it was also widely used in marine lighthouses....
aero beacon in 1991.
In 1787, while Maine was still part of the state of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, George Washington engaged two masons
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
from the town of Portland
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
, 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 colonial government was poor and that the materials used to build the lighthouse should be taken from the fields and shores. They could be handled nicely when hauled by oxen on a drag, he said. The original plans called for the tower to be 58 feet tall. When the mason 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 old tower, built of rubblestone, . Washington gave the masons four years to build the tower. While it was under construction, the federal government was formed (in 1789) and it looked for a while as though the lighthouse would not be finished. The first congress made an appropriation and authorized Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
, Secretary of the Treasury, to inform the mechanics that they could go on with the completion of the tower. The tower was completed during 1790 and first lit January 10, 1791.
During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, 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
Halfway Rock Light
Halfway Rock Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on a barren ledge in Casco Bay, Maine. The lighthouse tower, which has a height of , and the attached ex-boathouse are all that remain, as the other buildings have been taken away in storms...
was built, Portland Head Light was considered less important and in 1883 the tower was shortened 20 feet 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 above ground and 101 feet above water, its white conical tower being connected with a dwelling. The 200,000 candlepower, DCB 224 airport style aerobeacon is visible from 24 miles away. 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
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as Portland Head light (sic) on April 24, 1973, reference number 73000121.
Keepers
Joseph K. Greenleaf (1791–1795)David Duncan (1796)
Barzillai Delano (1796–1820)
Joshua Freeman (1820–1840)
Richard Lee (1840–1849)
John F. Watts (1849–1853)
John W. Coolidge (1853–1854)
James S. Williams (1854)
James Delano (1854–1861)
Elder M. Jordan (1861–1869)
Joshua F. Strout (1869–1904)
Joseph W. Strout (1904–1928)
John W. Cameron (assistant 1904-1928, principal keeper 1928-1929)
Frank O. Hilt (1929–1944)
Robert Thayer Sterling (assistant 1928-1944, principal keeper 1944-1946)
Archie McLaughlin (Coast Guard, c. 1946)
William L. Lockhart (Coast Guard 1946-1950)
William T. Burns (Coast Guard, 1950-1956?)
Earle E. Benson (Coast Guard, 1952-?)
Edward Frank (Coast Guard 1956-?)
Weston B. Gamage Jr. (Coast Guard, c. early 1960s)
Armand Hood (Coast Guard officer in charge, c. 1963)
Walter Dodge (Coast Guard, 1963)
Thomas Reed (Coast Guard, 1966–1967)
Robert Allen (Coast Guard, c. 1972)
Kenneth A. Perry (Coast Guard, ?)
Roy Cavanaugh (Coast Guard, c. 1971-1977)
Jerry Poliskey (Coast Guard, c. 1977)
Ray Barbar (Coast Guard Officer-in-Charge 1978-1982)
Marion Danna (Coast Guard Assist.Light keeper 1980-1983)
Michael Cook (Coast Guard Officer-in-Charge 1982-1986)
Davis Simpson (Coast Guard, ?-1989)
Nathan Wasserstrom (Coast Guard, ?-1989)
Cameron Ayres
See also
- Fort Williams ParkFort Williams ParkFort Williams Park is a 90 acre park in Cape Elizabeth, Maine encompassing numerous historical sites. Perhaps most famous for having Portland Head Light on its grounds, the park also encompasses the decommissioned and largely demolished United States Army post "Fort Williams", which was...
- Annie C. Maguire shipwreckAnnie C. Maguire shipwreckAnnie C. Maguire, a three-masted bark, was sailing from Buenos Aires, on December 24, 1886, when she struck the ledge at Portland Head Light. Keeper Joshua Strout, his son, wife, and volunteers rigged an ordinary ladder as a gangplank between the shore and the ledge the ship was heeled against...
- Port of Portland, MEPort of Portland (Maine)The Port of Portland is the largest tonnage seaport in New England as well as a major seaport along the east coast of the United States. It is also the second largest oil port on the East Coast, processing of oil in 2007, mostly through the Portland-Montreal Pipe Line, and the largest foreign...
- Casco BayCasco BayCasco Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine, New England, United States. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth...