Little Mark Island Monument | |
Location | Casco Bay, 1.3 miles (2.1 km) southwest of Bailey Island, Harpswell, Maine |
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Coordinates | 43°42′33″N70°1′53″W / 43.70917°N 70.03139°W Coordinates: 43°42′33″N70°1′53″W / 43.70917°N 70.03139°W |
Built | 1827 |
NRHP reference No. | 16000338 [1] |
Added to NRHP | June 7, 2016 |
The Little Mark Island Monument is a historic day beacon and shipwreck refuge on Little Mark Island in northern Casco Bay off the southern coast of the United States state of Maine. The monument, a pyramidal stone structure built in 1827, is one of only three such structures ever built in the state, and is now topped by a beacon light. It is owned and managed by the United States Coast Guard, and is an active aid to navigation. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. [1]
Little Mark Island is an island about 1 acre (0.40 ha) in size, and is located in northern Casco Bay, south of Haskell Island and west of the southern tip of Bailey Island. The island is roughly lozenge-shaped, and is devoid of trees. Its high point, near the center, rises to about 40 feet (12 m) above mean sea level, and is where the monument is located. The monument is a stone structure in the shape of a slender square pyramid, with a total height of 50 feet (15 m) and walls that are 18 feet (5.5 m) long at the base and 4 feet 6 inches (1.37 m) at the top. It appears to have been built from rock quarried on the island. The monument is marked with vertical black stripes on each face. A steel ladder is mounted on the south side, and the west side has an open entrance into the structure's interior. The interior consists of an open chamber which rises to the top of the monument, and was probably originally open at the top, intended to act as a chimney flue. The top has since been closed off by a concrete cap. The only fixtures in the interior are a box housing equipment for operating the marine beacon mounted on top of the concrete cap. The beacon is powered by batteries, which are recharged by solar panels mounted on a concrete pad just outside the monument. [2]
The monument was built in 1827, and was a functional replica of a similar structure built in 1811 at Cape Elizabeth, a location now occupied by the Cape Elizabeth Lights. A similar monument was built on Stage Island in 1823 off Biddeford, which also serves today as an aid to navigation. When built, the interior would have been stocked with supplies usable by shipwreck victims who might seek refuge on the island. The light was installed on the tower in 1927. It is a white light, flashing for 0.4 seconds once every four seconds. [2]
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 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.
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Nobska Light, originally called Nobsque Light, also known as Nobska Point Light is a lighthouse located near the division between Buzzards Bay, Nantucket Sound, and Vineyard Sound in the settlement of Woods Hole, Massachusetts on the southwestern tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It overlooks Martha's Vineyard and Nonamesset Island. The light station was established in 1826, with the tower protruding above the keeper's house, and was replaced in 1876 by the current 42 foot tall iron tower. The light station was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Nobska Point Light Station in 1987.
Ram Island Ledge Light is a lighthouse in Casco Bay, Maine, United States, marking the northern end of the main channel leading the harbor of Portland, Maine.
Nixes Mate, also known as Nixes Island, Nix's Mate and Nick's Mate, is one of the smaller islands in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Located in Boston Harbor's outer limits near the convergence of three major channels, the island lies about 5 nautical miles from downtown Boston and about 0.6 nautical miles east of Long Island Head Light. The island covers and uncovers with the tide and is not open to the public. It is described in the Light List as "Nixes Mate: black, white band midway of height, octagonal pyramid on square granite base", Light List number 1-11450.
Alcatraz Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse – the first one built on the U.S. West Coast – located on Alcatraz Island in California's San Francisco Bay. It is located at the southern end of the island near the entrance to the prison. The first light house on the island was completed in 1854, and served the bay during its time as a Citadel and military prison. It was replaced by a taller concrete tower built in 1909 to the south of the original one which was demolished after it was damaged due to earthquake in 1906. The automation of the lighthouse with a modern beacon took place in 1963, the year Alcatraz closed as the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. It is the oldest light station on the island with a modern beacon and is part of the museum on the island. Although when viewed from afar it easily looks the tallest structure on Alcatraz, it is actually shorter than the Alcatraz Water Tower, but as it lies on higher ground it looks much taller.
Anacapa Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse in California, United States, on the entrance to Santa Barbara Channel, California. Constructed in 1912, it was the last major light station built on the west coast. Anacapa and several other islands were collectively designated as Channel Islands National Monument in 1938, though the Coast Guard retained responsibility for the Anacapa lighthouse. Now fully automated and unmanned, the light house still operates, but the National Park Service (NPS) is responsible for Channel Islands National Park.
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Goose Rocks Light is a sparkplug lighthouse located near North Haven, Maine in Penobscot Bay. It stands at the eastern entrance to the Fox Islands Thoroughfare, a busy mile-wide passage separating North Haven from Vinalhaven. Built in 1890, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Goose Rocks Light Station on January 21, 1988. The structure is now privately owned by a preservation group, and remains an active aid to navigation.
East Charity Shoal Light is an offshore lighthouse located near the Saint Lawrence River's entrance in northeastern Lake Ontario, due south of the city of Kingston, Ontario and approximately five miles (8 km) southwest of Wolfe Island. It is on the southeast rim of a 3,300-foot-diameter (1,000 m) submerged circular depression known as Charity Shoal Crater that may be the remnants of a meteorite impact.
Round Island Passage Light is an automated, unmanned 1948 lighthouse located in the Round Island Channel in the Straits of Mackinac, Michigan. The channel is a branch of Lake Huron.
Bear Island Light is a lighthouse on Bear Island near Mt. Desert Island, at the entrance to Northeast Harbor, Maine. It was first established in 1839. The present structure was built in 1889. It was deactivated in 1981 and relit as a private aid to navigation by the Friends of Acadia National Park in 1989. Bear Island Light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Bear Island Light Station on March 14, 1988.
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Perkins Island Light is a lighthouse on the Kennebec River in Maine. It was established in 1898, as part of a major upgrade of the river's lights — the Doubling Point Light and the separate Range Lights on the point, Perkins Island Light, and Squirrel Point Light were all built at the same time. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Perkins Island Light Station in 1988.
Winter Harbor Light is a lighthouse in Winter Harbor, Maine. It is located on Mark Island, a small island between the Schoodic Peninsula and Turtle Island, near the entry to the town's main harbor. The light was built in 1856 and was deactivated in 1933; it is no longer an aid to navigation, and is privately owned. The light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Winter Harbor Light Station on February 1, 1988.
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