Saddleback Ledge Light

Saddleback Ledge Light

Historic American Buildings Survey photo, July 1960
Location west of Isle au Haut, Maine
Coordinates 44°0′51.697″N 68°43′35.217″W / 44.01436028°N 68.72644917°W / 44.01436028; -68.72644917Coordinates: 44°0′51.697″N 68°43′35.217″W / 44.01436028°N 68.72644917°W / 44.01436028; -68.72644917
Year first constructed 1839 (1839)
Automated 1954
Tower shape Conical Granite Tower
Markings / pattern Gray
Focal height 54 feet (16 m)
Current lens 12 inches (300 mm)
Range 9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi)
Characteristic Fl W 6s
Fog signal HORN: 1 every 10s
ARLHS number USA-716
USCG number

1-3325[1][2][3]

Saddleback Ledge Light Station
Nearest city Vinalhaven, Maine
Area 2 acres (0.81 ha)
Architect Alexander Parris
MPS Light Stations of Maine MPS
NRHP Reference # 88000158[4]
Added to NRHP March 14, 1988

Saddleback Ledge Light is a lighthouse on Saddleback Ledge, an islet lying between Isle au Haut and Vinalhaven, Maine, in the middle of the southeastern entrance to Penobscot Bay. The station was established and the current structure, designed by Alexander Parris, was built in 1839. One of Maine's oldest lighthouses, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Saddleback Ledge Light Station on March 14, 1988.[4]

Description and history

Saddleback Ledge is a rocky outcrop located roughly midway between Isle au Haut and Vinalhaven Island on the east side of Penobscot Bay. The lighthouse on it marks the entrance to the bay's main eastern passage. The light station consists of a single structure, a conical tower 36 feet (11 m) in height, built out of cut granite and topped by a ten-sided lantern house surrounded by an iron deck and railing. The interior of the tower has space for the keeper's quarters and supply storage, and has narrow vertical windows on its east and west faces.[5]

The light station was authorized in 1839, and the tower was built that year to a design by Alexander Parris. It is one of five lighthouses in the state whose design is attributed to Parris. The station at one point in the 19th-century had a wood frame addition, which doubled as a boathouse, but that has long since been removed. The lantern house, deck, and railing all date to 1883. The light was the second to be placed on Penobscot Bay. It was automated in 1954.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "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. 31.
  3. ↑ Rowlett, Russ (2009-10-09). "Lighthouses of the United States: Eastern 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 Saddleback Ledge Light" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
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