Seguin Light

Seguin Light

US Coast Guard photo
Location Mouth of the Kennebec River, Maine
Coordinates 43°42′26.9″N 69°45′28.9″W / 43.707472°N 69.758028°W / 43.707472; -69.758028Coordinates: 43°42′26.9″N 69°45′28.9″W / 43.707472°N 69.758028°W / 43.707472; -69.758028
Year first constructed 1795
Year first lit 1857 (current structure)
Automated 1985
Tower shape Cylindrical Tower
Markings / pattern White
Focal height 180 feet (55 m)
Current lens 1st order Fresnel Lens
Range 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi)
Characteristic F W
Fog signal HORN: 2 every 20s
ARLHS number USA-746
USCG number

1-35[1][2][3]

Seguin Island Light Station
Nearest city Georgetown, Maine
Area 64 acres (26 ha)
Built 1790
NRHP Reference # 77000084[4]
Added to NRHP March 08, 1977

Seguin Light is a lighthouse on Seguin Island, in the Gulf of Maine south of the mouth of the Kennebec River, Maine. Established in 1795, it is the second-oldest of Maine's coastal lighthouses, and the only lighthouse in the state housing a first-order Fresnel lens. With its light at 180 feet (55 m) above mean sea-level, the present tower, built in 1857, is its highest of the state's lighthouses. Automated in 1985, the buildings of the light station are now operated as a museum property by a non-profit organization, and are seasonally open to the public via scheduled from Popham Beach in Phippsburg. The light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Seguin Island Light Station in 1977.[4]

Description and history

Seguin Island is a 64-acre (26 ha) island located about two nautical miles south of Fort Popham in southernmost Phippsburg. The light station is located at the island's highest point, and includes the lighthouse itself, the keeper's house, fog signal building, a small oilhouse, and a tramway for bringing supplies from the shore to the site. The tower is built of cut granite blocks, and is 53 feet (16 m) tall and 16 feet (4.9 m) in diameter at the base. The keeper's house is built of brick, and is 1-1/2 stories in height with a gabled roof; it now houses a museum and shop. The oilhouse and fog signal building are also brick. The tramway consists of wooden rails mounted on timber piles.[5]

The light station was established in 1795, in response to a petition by Massachusetts authorities (Maine then being part of Massachusetts). The first tower was a wood frame structure completed in 1797. It was replaced in 1820 by a stone tower, which was replaced by the present tower in 1857. Most of the extant structures on the island also date from the 1857 construction period.[5] It is the highest lighthouse on the Maine coast and has the only first order fresnel lens currently used in the state.[6]

Keepers[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maine". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
  2. ↑ Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2009. p. 1.
  3. ↑ Rowlett, Russ (2009-10-09). "Lighthouses of the United States: Southern Maine". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  4. 1 2 National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  5. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for Seguin Island Light Station" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  6. ↑ "Classical Lenses in Operation" (PDF). US Coast Guard. 2009-08-06.
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