Ram Island Ledge Light

Last updated
Ram Island Ledge Light
Ram Island Ledge Light.jpg
Ram Island Ledge Light
Ram Island Ledge Light
LocationPortland Harbor, Casco bay
Coordinates 43°37′53.3″N70°11′14.5″W / 43.631472°N 70.187361°W / 43.631472; -70.187361
Tower
Constructed1905
FoundationNatural/emplaced
ConstructionGranite blocks
Automated1959
Height22 m (72 ft)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Shapeconical
MarkingsNatural (light gray) with black lantern
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Fog signal HORN: 1 every 10s

[1]

[2]
Light
First lit1905
Focal height77 feet (23 m)
LensThird order Fresnel lens
Range8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi)
Characteristic Flashing (2) White 6s
Ram Island Ledge Light Station
Nearest city Cape Elizabeth, Maine
ArchitectUS Army Corps of Engineers
MPS Light Stations of Maine MPS
NRHP reference No. 88000157 [3]
Added to NRHPMarch 14, 1988

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.

Contents

History

The Ram Island Ledges are a series of stone ledges, some of which break the waters at the southern end of Casco Bay, a short way south of Cushing Island. In 1855 an iron spindle was erected to protect sailors from these dangerous underwater ledges. The ledge continued to be the site of repeated shipwrecks. On February 24, 1900, the Allan Line steamship Californian (formerly named the State of California) ran aground on the ledge while en route from Portland to Glasgow, Scotland via Halifax, Nova Scotia. As a result of that accident, the United States Congress appropriated funds to build a lighthouse.

Construction began on May 1, 1903, and was completed in 1905. It is a twin of the Graves Light off Boston. The lighthouse was built of granite quarried from Vinalhaven, Maine. The lighthouse originally included a third-order Fresnel lens. The lighthouse was electrified in 1958, and then automated in 1959. The light was converted to solar power in January 2001. The Ram Island Ledge Light was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Ram Island Ledge Light Station on March 14, 1988, reference number 88000157. [3]

In July 2010, Ram Island Ledge Light was put up for sale to the general public. The minimum bid was $10,000. [4] The property had initially been made available at no charge to other government agencies, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations, but no interest was shown, so bids were opened to the general public. The winning bid, $190,000, came from Jeffrey Florman, an eclectic surgeon and resident of Windham, Maine. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casco Bay</span> Inlet of the Gulf of Maine

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 city of Portland sits along its southern edge and the Port of Portland lies within.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portland Head Light</span> Historic lighthouse in the United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spring Point Ledge Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

Spring Point Ledge Light is a sparkplug lighthouse in South Portland, Maine, that 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Elizabeth Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

Cape Elizabeth Light is a lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, at the southwestern entrance to Casco Bay in Maine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wood Island Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halfway Rock Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portland Breakwater Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

The Portland Breakwater Light is a small lighthouse in South Portland, Maine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Gorges</span> United States historic place

Fort Gorges is a former United States military fort built on Hog Island Ledge in Casco Bay, Maine, United States. Built from 1858 to 1864, no battles were fought there and no troops were stationed there. Advancing military technology, including iron clad ships and long range guns, rendered the fort obsolete before it could be used. The fort is now a park, accessible only by boat. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Graves Light</span> Historic lighthouse in Massachusetts, United States

The Graves Light is a lighthouse located on The Graves, the outermost island of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, and 9 miles (14 km) offshore of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greens Ledge Light</span> Lighthouse in Connecticut, U.S. (1902)

Greens Ledge Lighthouse is a historic offshore lighthouse in the western Long Island Sound near Norwalk, Connecticut and Darien, Connecticut. It is one of 33 sparkplug lighthouses still in existence in the United States and remains an active aid to navigation. It sits in ten feet of water on the west end of Greens Ledge, a shallow underwater reef that runs a mile west of Sheffield Island and is roughly a mile south of the entrance to Five Mile River at Rowayton. Completed in 1902 by the Philadelphia Construction Company, the cast-iron structure is approximately 90 feet tall including roughly 15 feet of the submerged caisson. In 1933, more than 30,000 tons of rocks from the excavation of Radio City Music Hall were added to the riprap foundation. The light was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Greens Ledge Lighthouse on May 29, 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peck Ledge Light</span> Lighthouse in Connecticut, United States

Peck Ledge Light, also known as "Peck Ledge Lighthouse", is a sparkplug lighthouse in Norwalk, Connecticut, United States, southeast of Norwalk Harbor and northeast of Goose Island among the Norwalk Islands on Long Island Sound. The lighthouse is about two miles (3 km) from Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk and can be seen from the beach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwest Ledge Light</span> Lighthouse

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goose Rocks Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland East Ledge Light</span> Lighthouse in Massachusetts, United States

Cleveland East Ledge Light is a historic lighthouse in Falmouth, Massachusetts. It sits on a man-made island in shallow water on the eastern of the two halves of Cleveland Ledge, which is said to have been named for President Grover Cleveland because he owned the nearby Gray Gables estate and used to fish in the area. It marks the east side of the beginning of the dredged channel leading to the Cape Cod Canal and is the first fixed mark when going northbound through the canal. As it is an important mark in an area subject to fog, it has a racon showing the letter "C".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miah Maull Shoal Light</span> Lighthouse

The Miah Maull Shoal Light is a lighthouse on the north side of the ship channel in Delaware Bay, off of Cumberland County, New Jersey on the East Coast of the United States, southwest of the mouth of the Maurice River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Bank Light</span> Lighthouse

West Bank Light, officially West Bank Front Range Light, is a lighthouse in Lower New York Bay, within New York City, and acts as the front range light for the Ambrose Channel. It is currently active and not open to the public. The tower was built in 1901 and heightened in 1908. Staten Island Light serves as the rearrange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Cuckolds Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heron Neck Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

Heron Neck Light is a lighthouse on Green's Island in Vinalhaven, Maine at the south end of Penobscot Bay. It was established in 1854 as an aid to navigation for Vinalhaven's main port, and for the Hurricane Channel extending northwest from Heron's Neck. The light was automated in 1984. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Heron Neck Light Station on January 21, 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petit Manan Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

Petit Manan Light is a lighthouse on Petit Manan Island, Maine. The island is at the end of a series of ledges extending out from Petit Manan Point, between Dyer Bay and Pigeon Hill Bay, that projects into the Gulf of Maine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saddleback Ledge Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

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.

References

  1. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maine". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
  2. United States Coast Guard (2009). Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. p. 62.
  3. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  4. Anderson, Amy (22 July 2010). "Ram Island Ledge light off Cape Elizabeth for sale, in need of care". The Forecaster. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  5. Maxwell, Trevor (20 June 2011). "Still in the dark about Ram Island Ledge Light". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved 20 June 2011.