Location | West Quoddy head/Bay of Fundy |
---|---|
Coordinates | 44°48′54.387″N66°57′2.416″W / 44.81510750°N 66.95067111°W |
Tower | |
Constructed | 1808 |
Foundation | Masonry |
Construction | Brick |
Automated | 1988 |
Height | 49 feet (15 m) |
Shape | Conical |
Markings | Red and white bands with black lantern |
Heritage | National Register of Historic Places listed place |
Fog signal | HORN: 2 every 30s |
Light | |
First lit | 1858 (Current tower) |
Focal height | 83 feet (25 m) |
Lens | Third order Fresnel lens |
Intensity | 35,000 candela |
Range | 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi) |
Characteristic | Flashing(2) White 15s |
West Quoddy Head Light Station | |
Nearest city | Lubec, Maine |
Built | 1808 |
NRHP reference No. | 80004601 [1] |
Added to NRHP | July 4, 1980 |
West Quoddy Head, in Quoddy Head State Park, Lubec, Maine, is the easternmost point of the contiguous United States. [2] [3] [4] In 1808 a lighthouse was constructed at the site to guide ships through the Quoddy Narrows. The current tower, with distinctive red-and-white stripes, was constructed in 1858 and is an active aid to navigation. The 3rd order Fresnel lens is the only 3rd order and one of only eight Fresnel lenses still in use on the Maine Coast. [5]
The light station was added to the National Register of Historic Places as West Quoddy Head Light Station on July 4, 1980. [1] [6]
West Quoddy Head is an easterly-pointing peninsula in southeastern Lubec, overlooking Quoddy Narrows, a strait between Lubec and Campobello Island, Canada, that provides access to Passamaquoddy Bay and harbors located on the St. Croix River and other rivers which empty into the bay. [7] Most of the peninsula is part of Quoddy Head State Park, and the light station is located near the southern end of its eastern face. [8]
A stone sign describes the lighthouse as the "easternmost point in the U.S.A." It is the easternmost building in the United States (a nearby sign proclaims the "easternmost giftshop in the U.S."), but the easternmost point is at rocks extending eastward from the shore. [7] The present light station includes a tower, former keeper's quarters, service building, and oil house. The tower is circular, and is 49 feet (15 m) in height, with the beacon at 83 feet (25 m) above sea level. The light, magnified by a third-order Fresnel lens, has a range of 18 miles (29 km). The tower is built of brick, and painted in alternating horizontal red and white stripes. A small gabled entry vestibule, also brick, projects from the tower. The keeper's house is a wood-frame structure, 11⁄2 stories in height. [9]
A lighthouse at West Quoddy Head, Maine, was authorized by Congress in 1806. The light station was finished on April 21, 1808, at a cost of $5,000 (equivalent to $95,000in 2023). In 1820, Congress authorized the station's first fog signal, a 500-pound (230 kg) bell, costing $1,000 (equivalent to $22,000in 2023). The current tower was built in 1858. [2] The present station was built in 1858. The former keeper's house now serves as a museum and visitor's center.[ citation needed ] In 1990, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 25-cent stamp featuring the West Quoddy Head Light. [10]
Lubec is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. It is the easternmost municipality in the contiguous U.S. and is the country's closest continental location to Africa.
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Quoddy Head State Park is a public recreation area in Lubec, Maine, located on the easternmost point of land in the continental United States. On its 541 acres (219 ha), purchased by the state in 1962, the state park features 5 miles (8 km) of hiking trails, extensive forests, two bogs, diverse habitat for rare plants, and the striking, red-and-white striped lighthouse tower of West Quoddy Head Light.
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The Fort Point Light, or Fort Point Light Station, is located in Fort Point State Park, in Stockton Springs, Maine. A lighthouse at this point has served as an active aid to navigation since 1835; the present lighthouse dates to 1857, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Owls Head Light is an active aid to navigation located at the entrance of Rockland Harbor on western Penobscot Bay in the town of Owls Head, Knox County, Maine. The lighthouse is owned by the U.S. Coast Guard and licensed to the American Lighthouse Foundation. It is the centerpiece of 13-acre (5.3 ha) Owls Head State Park and was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Owls Head Light Station in 1978.
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Egg Rock Light is a lighthouse on Frenchman Bay, Maine. Built in 1875, it is one of coastal Maine's architecturally unique lighthouses, with a square tower projecting through the square keeper's house. Located on Egg Rock, midway between Mount Desert Island and the Schoodic Peninsula, it is an active aid to navigation, flashing red every 40 seconds. The light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Egg Rock Light Station in 1988.
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