Lighthouses of New England by Ray Jones

Author:Ray Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Globe Pequot
Published: 2022-10-21T00:00:00+00:00

How to get there

The historic Portland Head Light stands adjacent to Fort Williams State Park, near South Portland. From US 1, take Highway 1A, Route 77, and Shore Road. Turn left into Fort Williams Park and follow signs to the lighthouse parking lot. The keeper’s dwelling houses a fascinating maritime museum. For information, call (207) 799-2661.

Cape Elizabeth Light

Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Established in 1828

Rebuilt in 1874

Like Matinicus Rock, farther up the Maine coast, Cape Elizabeth once guided mariners with a pair of lights. In fact, the station was known for many years as “Two Lights.” The two Cape Elizabeth towers, spaced about 300 yards apart, displayed a fixed light and a flashing light, respectively. When approaching the coast from the east, south, or west, a ship’s position could be found quickly on a chart once a sailor had spotted the double lights. But today only one light shines from the cape. In 1924 officials decided the second light was redundant and discontinued it.

The station has a long history. A forty-five-foot octagonal tower was erected on Cape Elizabeth in 1811 as a daymark, but it was of no use at all to ships’ captains blinded by fog or darkness. So, under pressure from shipping interests, the government paid contractor Jeremiah Berry $4,250 to replace the daymark with two rubble-stone towers. Working rapidly, Berry had both towers ready for service in less than five months, and their lamps were first lit in October 1828.

By 1874 both lighthouses had been all but destroyed by the weather and the sea, so they were pulled down and a pair of handsome cast-iron towers was erected in their place. When the west light was discontinued in 1924, the lantern was removed from the tower. But the east tower still looks much the way it did more than a century ago. Standing on a high cliff and with a second-order Fresnel lens throwing out bursts of six rapid flashes every thirty seconds, it ranks among the most powerful lights in New England. Sailors can see the Cape Elizabeth Light from up to 27 miles away.

Despite the power and effectiveness of the light, the rocky cape has continued over the years to claim ships. The schooner Australia struck rocks near the lighthouse during a blizzard on January 28, 1885. The keeper rescued two members of its crew. In addition to the Australia, the 286-ton bark Tasmania, the schooner Abigail, the schooner Susan, and many other ships were lost within sight of the station and its keepers.

On March 3, 1947, the coal freighter Oakley L. Alexander ran head-on into a storm so violent that the ship was broken in half. All thirty-two members of the ship’s crew managed to clamber aboard the stern section, which continued to float. The accident took place more than 8 miles from shore, but, luckily for the crew, the wind was blowing toward land. The stern ended up on the rocks near the Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse. Using a lifesaving device called a Lyle gun, coastguardsman Earle Drinkwater fired a line over the stern and started hauling men ashore.

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