Portland Head Light

The same day we visited Battery Keyes we also made our way over to the Portland Head Light since they are both part of Fort Williams. Again, it was open lighthouse day and unlike the battery, this place was packed. There was also a wedding happening in the same area so it was pretty crazy. Unfortunately, I could not make my way up the lighthouse. They ran out of tickets, which was understandable, and they said that if I waited around long enough, I might have been able to climb it for free. Since we had my girlfriend’s sisters, that was definitely not a good idea. I got to walk around inside though and that was pretty cool. One of the pictures inside read, “Intoxicated keepers to be suspended from duty” which really got me. I feel as though it could get boring up there, what else would there be to do?

The crowd was made up of a lot of older people and a lot of war veterans actually. I didn’t have much time to talk to the people who worked there because they were swamped with a ton of people, but like I said, I had the chance to walk around in and outside the lighthouse. I’ve only ever been into one other lighthouse. Maybe in the future I’ll make my way up the Portland Head Light.

Historical Background:

The construction of the Portland Head Light had started in 1787 after a shipwreck that resulted in two deaths. The lighthouse was not put into service until 1791, however. Originally the lighthouse was supposed to be 58 feet tall but one of the two masons, Jonathan Bryant and John Nichols, who were involved in the construction had changed the plan to make the lighthouse 72 feet tall instead. The original sum of money used to start construction was only $750 but later Congress had given an extra $1,500 in 1790 when they had run out of funds. The first lamps that were installed burned whale oil. Whale oil was extracted from certain types of whales because, apparently, it was a clean burn. By 1855 the older lamps and reflectors were replaced with a fourth-order Fresnel lens. The Fresnel lens was a much larger and thinner lens than previous lenses which allowed for greater illumination. It captured the light much better which made the light travel a much farther distance. In 1864, however, a ship called the Bohemian, had wrecked and killed 40 immigrants. As a result, the light was raised an additional 20 feet and a new second-order Fresnel lens was installed.

List of  lighthouse keepers

The purpose of the lighthouse is obvious but the importance of the Portland Head Light, just like all Maine lighthouses, was the fact that it protected ships from Maine’s highly dangerous jagged coast. Starting from the first keeper, Joseph K. Greenleaf, in 1791 to 1795 until Nathan Wasserstorm in 1985, Portland Heal Light has been manned by 33 people. Currently, the actual lighthouse is unmanned but maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. The current beacon is visible from 24 miles away with a 200,000 candlepower, DCB 224 airport style aerobeacon. In 2005 the lighthouse received a $260,000 for renovations and other upgrades such as paint. It currently stands at 80-feet and still protects ships from Maine’s coast just like it had done in 1791. Maine’s shipping industry has always been a staple in the local economy, especially Portland, so it was essential to have these lighthouses because ships were too frequent in the area. And again, to this day, the lighthouses are still needed for those same purposes. 

Sources: http://www.portlandheadlight.com/