Owls Head Light

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.[3][4][5] The lighthouse is owned by the U.S. Coast Guard and licensed to the American Lighthouse Foundation.[6] It is the centerpiece of 13-acre (5.3 ha) Owls Head State Park[7] and was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Owls Head Light Station in 1978.[8]

Owls Head Light
Owls Head Light
LocationOwls Head, Maine
Coordinates44°05′30″N 69°02′38″W[1]
Tower
Constructed1825
FoundationGranite
ConstructionBrick
Automated1989
Height9 m (30 ft) Edit this on Wikidata
ShapeCylindrical
MarkingsWhite with black lantern
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place Edit this on Wikidata
Fog signalHorn: 2 every 20s
Light
First lit1825
Focal height100 feet (30 m)
Lens4th order Fresnel lens[2]
Range16 nautical miles (30 km; 18 mi)
CharacteristicFixed white
Owls Head Light Station
Nearest cityOwls Head, Maine
Area3 acres (1.2 ha)
Built byJeremiah Berry; Green & Foster
NRHP reference No.78000183
Added to NRHPJanuary 18, 1978

History

The town of Owls Head is located south of Rockland, and includes an eponymous peninsula that projects northeast into Penobscot Bay, with its tip roughly east of downtown Rockland. The light station is located at the eastern tip of this peninsula. The light station was established in 1825 with the construction of a round, rubblestone tower by Jeremiah Berry and Green & Foster.[8] The tower was rebuilt in 1852.[9] It is a 30-foot-tall (9.1 m) cylindrical brick tower on a granite foundation standing on top a cliff. It has one of the last six Fresnel lenses in operation in Maine.[2] The light is located 100 feet (30 m) above mean sea level.[8]

In 1854, a keeper's house was built separately from the lighthouse. The cottage now serves as the headquarters of the American Lighthouse Foundation. A fourth order Fresnel lens was installed in 1856. A generator house and an oil storage building were added in 1895.

Renovations carried out in 2010 saw the tower restored to its 1852 appearance. In addition to repainting the tower, repairs were done to the bricks, the lantern's ironwork and windowpanes, and the parapet's floor.[9]

  • Postcard view ca. 1930s
    Postcard view ca. 1930s
  • The hill where the tower sits
    The hill where the tower sits
  • The view from the base of the tower
    The view from the base of the tower

See also

References
  1. "Owls Head". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. "Fresnel Lenses Still in Operation" (PDF). U.S. Coast Guard. December 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  3. Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2017. p. 36.
  4. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maine". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. December 21, 2016. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017.
  5. Rowlett, Russ (April 5, 2017). "Lighthouses of the United States: Southern Maine". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  6. "Owls Head Lighthouse". American Lighthouse Foundation. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  7. "Owls Head State Park". Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  8. Flaherty, Michael F. (January 18, 1978). "Owls Head Light Station". National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. National Park Service. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  9. "Owls Head Lighthouse". Lighthousefriends. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
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