Portland Head Light

Wikipedia traces the project to 1785, when Falmouth leaders asked their representative in the Massachusetts General Court to seek funding. In 1787 the masons Jonathan Bryant and John Nichols began work, and Washington asked that local fields and shores supply the materials. Sources differ on the original height: Wikipedia describes a planned 58-foot tower that the masons raised by 20 feet after finding the light would not be visible past the southern headlands, while the Maine Historic Preservation Commission gives an original height of 72 feet. In 1789 the first Congress authorized the Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, to tell the builders to continue, and in 1790 Congress appropriated up to $1,500 to finish it. Whale oil lamps provided the original light. The tower was first lit on January 10, 1791.

The tower's height has changed with the needs of mariners. Wikipedia reports it was raised 20 feet during the Civil War era, shortened by 20 feet in 1813 and by a further 21 feet in 1883 after Halfway Rock Light made it seem less important, and restored in 1885 after mariners complained. A fourth-order Fresnel lens was installed in 1855, later replaced by a second-order lens, which was removed in 1958 when an aerobeacon took over. A DCB-224 aerobeacon replaced that in 1991. The tower stands 80 feet above ground with a focal height of 101 feet above water. The current keepers' house was built in 1891, and the station was automated in 1989. In 1886 the barque Annie C. Maguire ran aground at the point and everyone aboard reached shore safely.

The U.S. Coast Guard maintains the beacon and fog signal as an active aid to navigation, while the Town of Cape Elizabeth owns the grounds and the keeper's house. The light was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 24, 1973, and the American Society of Civil Engineers designated it a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 2002. Edward Hopper painted it in watercolor in 1927.

The former keepers' quarters houses the Museum at Portland Head Light, which presents interpretive displays on the lighthouse's history and shows part of the second-order Fresnel lens removed in 1958. Fort Williams Park, about 90 acres, was a U.S. Army post from the 1870s until it closed in 1962, and the town bought it in 1964. Remains of the fort include batteries and the shell of the Goddard Mansion, built between 1853 and 1859. The park lists Battery Keyes, Battery Blair and Ship Cove among its sites.

The tower itself is generally not open for climbing, and museum hours and fees change, so check portlandheadlight.com or the operator for current hours, permits, and access. Wikipedia lists the fog signal as one blast every 15 seconds and the light as flashing white every 4 seconds.

On a Voyzo private tour, your driver can take you to the lighthouse door to door, leaving time for the museum and the grounds at your own pace before moving on.