Living in Maine and never climbing a lighthouse is kind of like living in South Dakota and never seeing Mount Rushmore, or visiting Memphis and skipping the tour of Graceland.
You know you should do it, but somehow you just never get around to actually going.
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Well, here’s your chance. On Saturday, 25 ocean, river and island lighthouses throughout Maine will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Some of these lighthouses aren’t normally open to the public, so this is a rare chance to peek inside their light towers and keepers’ houses.
Even if you’ve been to Portland Head Light a million times with visiting relatives, during Open Lighthouse Day, you’ll be able to climb the tower, which is usually closed.
“At the 25 sites that are going to be open, there will be people there staffing, and many of them will have guided tours,” said Bob Trapani Jr., executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation in Rockland, which is sponsoring the day along with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Maine Office of Tourism. “It’s an educational opportunity, not just a chance to climb.”
Last year, 15,000 people showed up for the event, which is the largest of its kind in the country. Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse in South Portland had the most visitors that year. About a dozen are profiled in this issue of Go; a complete list is available online at tinyurl.com/n6nj8e.
Generally there is no charge to visit the lighthouses, but donations will be accepted by some of the friends’ groups that will be giving tours.
The lights have different architectural styles. Some have museums and keeper’s houses, and of course, most of them have amazing views.
At West Quoddy Head Light, visitors can enjoy the fact that they’re at the easternmost point in the United States as they look down on a spectacular view of the bold coast. At Squirrel Point or Doubling Point lighthouses, there’s the opportunity to see some of the natural life that lives along the Kennebec River.
Many of the lighthouses have woodwork, iron staircases and other historic details that remain intact. Wood Island Light Station near Biddeford Pool, for example, has granite-cut stairs, “which is really cool,” Trapani said.
“It’s very rare in lighthouses today to see something like that,” Trapani said. “The tower dates back to 1857. And the tower’s been fully restored as of this year, so it’s quite a treat. That’s one I would highly recommend in terms of architecture and seeing restoration.”
The lighthouses that are not normally open to the public include Doubling Point, Fort Point, Kennebec River Range Lights, Monhegan, Owls Head, Portland Breakwater, Squirrel Point, West Quoddy Head and others.
Some lighthouses are closed because someone actually still lives there. One of the most beautiful lighthouses in Maine is Bass Harbor Head Light, perched atop a pink granite cliff on Mount Desert Island. A Coast Guard family calls this stunning place home, and so it is usually closed to protect their privacy. Brown’s Head Light on Vinalhaven is usually closed to the public because it’s the home of the town manager. Both will be open on Saturday.
Other lighthouses aren’t usually open because of accessibility issues. Goat Island Light in Cape Porpoise, for example, is reached only by boat or kayak. Even if you make it out there, the tower is closed.
“If you’re a kayaker and you want to be able to get out to a unique site, that’s another one,” Trapani said. “You can see it from Cape Porpoise, but seeing it and touching it are different things.”
• PORTLAND HEAD LIGHT
LOCATION: Fort Williams Park, Cape Elizabeth
YEAR BUILT: 1791
ILLUMINATING FACT: Maine’s oldest lighthouse was commissioned by George Washington and dedicated by the Marquis de Lafayette.
MORE INFO: Tickets will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis, and will be stamped with an admission time. Twelve tickets will be given out for each 15-minute period from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Children under age 10 will not be admitted.
• PORTLAND BREAKWATER LIGHT
LOCATION: Bug Light Park, South Portland
YEAR BUILT:1875
ILLUMINATING FACT: This 26-foot tower, known locally as “Bug Light,” was modeled after an ancient Greek monument. It has Corinthian columns and Greek roof-edge adornments called palmettes.
MORE INFO: Guided tours. Small children must be accompanied by an adult.
• SPRING POINT LEDGE LIGHTHOUSE
LOCATION: End of Fort Road, South Portland
YEAR BUILT: 1898
ILLUMINATING FACT: This light resembles a spark plug and sits on a breakwater in Portland Harbor. More visitors climbed the Spring Point tower than any other last year on Open Lighthouse Day.
MORE INFO: Self-guided tour. Must be at least 55 inches tall to climb the 54-foot tower.
• GOAT ISLAND LIGHT
LOCATION: Goat Island, Cape Porpoise, near Kennebunkport (accessible by boat only)
YEAR BUILT: 1833
ILLUMINATING FACT: Secret Service agents watched the Bush compound at Walker’s Point from here when George H.W. Bush was president.
MORE INFO: Leased to the Kennebunk Conservation Trust.
• WOOD ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE
LOCATION: Wood Island near Biddeford Pool (accessible by boat only)
YEAR BUILT: 1808
ILLUMINATING FACT: This lighthouse is said to be haunted by the ghost of the person who murdered a game warden in the 1890s. A keeper is said to have killed himself after one too many sightings of the ghost.
MORE INFO: Inaccessible except by boat, the Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse will be arranging transportation for Open Lighthouse Day.
• BROWN’S HEAD LIGHT
LOCATION: Vinalhaven Island (accessible by ferry)
YEAR BUILT: 1832
ILLUMINATING FACT: This light is usually not open to the public because the town manager of Vinalhaven lives there.
MORE INFO: The Maine State Ferry Service offers daily, year-round transportation to Vinalhaven.
• CURTIS ISLAND LIGHT
LOCATION: Curtis Island, overlooking Camden Harbor (accessible by boat only)
YEAR BUILT: 1836
ILLUMINATING FACT: This light was named for Cyrus H.K. Curtis, publisher of the Saturday Evening Post and summer resident of Camden.
MORE INFO: Accessible only by boat. Visitors must provide their own transportation.
• DOUBLING POINT LIGHT
LOCATION: Kennebec River, at the west end of Arrowsic Island, at the end of Doubling Point Road
YEAR BUILT: 1839
ILLUMINATING FACT: This was one of four lighthouses built in 1839 to provide navigational aid for ships on their way to Bath. Doubling Point Light warned of two treacherous right-angle turns in the Kennebec River.
MORE INFO: Caretakers allow access to the grounds of this privately owned river light, but the 23-foot tower is not usually open. Karen McLean, a former Coast Guard lightkeeper, will be there on Open Lighthouse Day to talk about the light.
• MARSHALL POINT LIGHTHOUSE
LOCATION: Marshall Point Road (off Route 131), Port Clyde
YEAR BUILT: 1832
ILLUMINATING FACT: A scene from the movie “Forrest Gump” was filmed at the lighthouse in 1993. A photo of Tom Hanks hangs in the kitchen of the keeper’s house, which is now a museum.
MORE INFO: The 31-foot tower is connected to the keeper’s house by a dramatic wooden arm.
• OWLS HEAD LIGHT
LOCATION: Owls Head Light State Park, Owls Head
YEAR BUILT: 1825
ILLUMINATING FACT: Once, when the fog bell was buried in snow, the barking of a keeper’s dog saved a mailboat in distress. Another tale tells the story of two lovers trapped in a wrecked schooner during a storm. The Owls Head keeper rescued them, and they later married.
MORE INFO: This lighthouse just re-opened on Aug. 21 after a restoration. Must be at least 42 inches tall to climb the 26-foot tower.
• PEMAQUID POINT LIGHT
LOCATION: Route 130, Bristol
YEAR BUILT:1827
ILLUMINATING FACT: The light’s original fresnel lens is still operating. The keeper’s house contains a Fisherman’s Museum with artifacts from the fishing and lobstering industries.
MORE INFO: This light has just been restored, and will have guided tours. Must be a minimum of 46 inches tall to climb the 38-foot tower.
• SQUIRREL POINT LIGHT
LOCATION: End of Bald Head Road, Arrowsic
YEAR BUILT: 1898
ILLUMINATING FACT: Stanley Reynolds, the keeper during the 1950s, and his wife had two children at the lighthouse. In 1955, their 3-year-old son fell into the river and drowned. The couple left shortly after.
MORE INFO: It takes a short hike to reach this light at the end of Bald Head Road in Arrowsic. It has an octagonal, shingled tower, a shingled fog bell house with a gable roof, and a two-story keeper’s house. The keeper’s house will be open to the public. The light’s original fresnel lens is in the museum at Portland Head Light.
• SEGUIN ISLAND LIGHT
LOCATION: Seguin Island, about two miles from the mouth of the Kennebec River (accessible by boat only)
YEAR BUILT: 1795
ILLUMINATING FACT: One keeper bought his wife a player piano that only played one tune. She played it over and over to relieve her boredom, and it drove the keeper insane. He strangled his wife, chopped up the piano with an ax, and committed suicide.
MORE INFO: This was Maine’s first offshore light station. It is accessible only by boat, but can be seen from Popham Beach.
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