Location | NE end of Portland Breakwater in Portland Harbor, South Portland, Maine |
---|---|
Coordinates | 43°39′19.872″N70°14′5.471″W / 43.65552000°N 70.23485306°W |
Tower | |
Constructed | 1855 |
Foundation | Granite block caisson |
Construction | Iron plate with brick lining |
Automated | 1934 |
Height | 7.5 m (25 ft) |
Shape | conical |
Markings | resembles 4th-century Greek monument |
Heritage | National Register of Historic Places listed place |
Light | |
First lit | 1875 | (current tower)
Deactivated | 1942 |
Focal height | 30 feet (9.1 m) |
Lens | Sixth order fresnel, 1855 |
Characteristic | Flashing white 4 s |
Portland Breakwater Light | |
Architect | Thomas U. Walter |
Architectural style | Greek Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 73000238 [1] |
Added to NRHP | June 19, 1973 |
The Portland Breakwater Light (also called Bug Light) is a small lighthouse in South Portland, Maine, United States. [2] [3]
A lighthouse was first built here in 1855 as a wooden structure. The breakwater was extended and a new lighthouse was constructed at the end of it in 1875. The new lighthouse was made of curved cast-iron plates whose seams are disguised by six decorative Corinthian columns. Its design was inspired by the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens, made well-known by engravings. The architect was Thomas U. Walter, most noted as the designer of the U.S. Capitol east and west wings and its current dome. Wooden sheds and a six-room house for the lighthouse-keeper were added incrementally as needed. In 1897, Spring Point Ledge Light was erected and the houses around Bug Light were demolished and the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse keepers tended to both lighthouses. During World War II, the breakwater was slowly absorbed by landfill as the New England Shipbuilding Corporation built two shipyards next to the lighthouse. These shipyards produced Liberty Ships for the war effort. Because of the smaller breakwater, there was less need for the lighthouse and it was decommissioned in 1943. [2]
The light was fully restored in 1989 and was reactivated in 2002. It appears as a private aid to navigation in the US Coast Guard Light List as South Portland Breakwater Light. [3] A park named after the lighthouse, Bug Light Park, allows visitors to view the Portland Breakwater Light up close, while memorializing the shipbuilding efforts of World War II. [4] The light was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Portland Breakwater Light on June 19, 1973, reference number 73000238.
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.
Spring Point Ledge Light is a sparkplug lighthouse in South Portland, Maine, which marks a dangerous obstruction on the west side of the main shipping channel into Portland Harbor. It is now adjacent to the campus of Southern Maine Community College. It was constructed in 1897 and automated in 1960.
Cape Elizabeth Light is a lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, at the southwestern entrance to Casco Bay in Maine.
Wood Island Light is an active lighthouse on the eastern edge of Wood Island in Saco Bay, on the southern coast of Maine. The light is just outside the entrance to Biddeford Pool and the end of the Saco River. The lighthouse is a 47-foot (14 m) conical white tower of granite rubble. The light itself sits 71 feet (22 m) above mean high water. Its automated beacon alternates between green and white every 10 seconds.
Halfway Rock Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on a barren ledge in Casco Bay, Maine. The lighthouse tower, which has a height of 76 feet (23 m), and the attached ex-boathouse are all that remains, as the other buildings have been taken away in storms. The name "Halfway Rock" comes from the position of the rock which is halfway between Cape Elizabeth and Cape Small, the southwest and northeast extremities of Casco Bay, which are about 18 nautical miles (33 km) apart.
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.
Boon Island Light is located on the 300-by-700-foot Boon Island off the southern coast of Maine, United States, near Cape Neddick. Boon Island Light has the distinction of being the tallest lighthouse in both Maine and New England at 133 feet (41 m). The lighthouse has a focal plane at 137 feet (42 m) above mean high water. The light's beacon flashes white every 5 seconds.
Old Scituate Light also known simply as Scituate Light is a historic lighthouse located on Cedar Point in Scituate, Massachusetts. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 as Scituate Light.
The Lynde Point Light or Lynde Point Lighthouse, also known as Saybrook Inner Lighthouse, is a lighthouse in Connecticut, United States, on the west side of the mouth of the Connecticut River on the Long Island Sound, Old Saybrook, Connecticut. The first light was a 35 feet (11 m) wooden tower constructed by Abisha Woodward for $2,200 and it was completed in 1803. A new lighthouse was eventually needed and a total of $7,500 was appropriated on July 7, 1838. Jonathan Scranton, Volney Pierce, and John Wilcox were contracted to build the new 65-foot (20 m) octagonal brownstone tower. It was constructed in 1838 and lit in 1839. The lighthouse was renovated in 1867 and had its keeper's house from 1833 replaced in 1858 with a Gothic Revival gambrel-roofed wood-frame house. In 1966, the house was torn down and replaced by a duplex house. The original ten lamps were replaced in 1852 with a fourth-order Fresnel lens, and with a fifth-order Fresnel lens in 1890. Lynde Point Lighthouse used whale oil until 1879 when it switched to kerosene. It was electrified in 1955 and fully automated by the United States Coast Guard in 1978. In 1990, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places and is significant for its "superior stone work in the tapering brownstone walls".
Southwest Ledge Light is an active lighthouse marking the main entrance channel to the harbor of New Haven, Connecticut. Completed in 1877, it was one of the first to be built on a cylindrical iron foundation, an innovation by Maj. George H. Elliot to address shifting ice that is regarded to be very important in lighthouse design. The lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990 as Southwest Ledge Lighthouse.
The Ladies Delight Light is a small lighthouse on Lake Cobbosseecontee, in Winthrop, Maine, United States. It was constructed in 1908 and is believed to be the only active inland waters lighthouse in Maine. The tower is 25 feet (7.6 m) tall, and is equipped with a solar powered dual-level LED marine beacon. It operates every night of the year. At the time of its construction, it was the only inland lake lighthouse east of the Mississippi River. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Rockland Harbor Breakwater Light is a historic lighthouse complex at the end of the Rockland Breakwater in the harbor of Rockland, Maine. Replacing a light station at Jameson Point, the light was established in 1902, about two years after completion of the breakwater. Now automated, it continues to serve as an active aid to navigation. The light was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse on March 20, 1981.
Plymouth Light, also known as Gurnet Light, is a historic lighthouse located on Gurnet Point at the entrance to Plymouth Bay in the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. The light is accessible only by passing through the town of Duxbury, which lies to the north. The tower is located inside the earthworks of Fort Andrew, which existed in the Civil War, War of 1812, and Revolutionary War.
Annisquam Harbor Light Station is a historic lighthouse on Wigwam Point in the Annisquam neighborhood of Gloucester, Massachusetts. It can be viewed from nearby Wingaersheek Beach, Gloucester. It lies on the Annisquam River and is one of the four oldest lighthouses to surround the Gloucester peninsula as well as; Eastern Point Light, Ten Pound Island Light, and Thacher Island Light.
Doubling Point Light is a lighthouse on the Kennebec River in Arrowsic, Maine. It was established in 1898, fifteen years after the founding of the Bath Iron Works, a major shipbuilder, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) upriver. It was 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. The light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Doubling Point Light Station on January 21, 1988. It remains an active aid to navigation.
The Cuckolds Light, known as the Cuckolds Island Fog Signal and Light Station or just Cuckolds Light Station, is a lighthouse located on the eastern pair of islets known as the "Cuckolds" in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The islets are southeast and in sight of Cape Island, that is just off the southern tip of Cape Newagen on Southport Island, south of Booth Bay, that leads to Boothbay Harbor, Maine.
Hendricks Head Light is a lighthouse in Southport, Maine marking the west side of the mouth of the Sheepscot River. The light station was established in 1829, and its present structures date to 1875. It was deactivated in 1933, but relit in 1951. The two-story wood keeper's house is now a private summer residence. The light is on continuously, showing white to the west and red to the east. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Hendricks Head Light Station on November 20, 1987.
Narraguagus Light is a lighthouse on Pond Island at the southern extent of Narraguagus Bay in Downeast Maine. It was built as an aid to navigation for the bay, and the port of Milbridge, then an important deep-water shipbuilding port. It was deactivated in 1934, and is now privately owned. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as "Narraguagus Light Station" on November 20, 1987.
Saddleback Ledge Light is a lighthouse on Saddleback Ledge, an islet lying between Isle au Haut and Vinalhaven, Maine, in the middle of the southeastern entrance to Penobscot Bay. The station was established and the current structure, designed by Alexander Parris, was built in 1839. One of Maine's oldest lighthouses, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Saddleback Ledge Light Station on March 14, 1988.
Squirrel Point Light is a lighthouse marking the southwestern point of Arrowsic Island on the Kennebec River. 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. The light station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Squirrel Point Light Station on January 21, 1988.