Goose Rocks Light

Goose Rocks Light is a sparkplug lighthouse located near North Haven, Maine in Penobscot Bay. It stands at the eastern entrance to the Fox Islands Thoroughfare, a busy mile-wide passage separating North Haven from Vinalhaven. Built in 1890, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Goose Rocks Light Station on January 21, 1988.[4] The structure is now privately owned by a preservation group, and remains an active aid to navigation.

Goose Rocks Light
US Coast Guard photo
LocationNorth Haven, Maine
Coordinates44°8′7.5″N 68°49′50.4″W
Year first constructed1890
Automated1963
Foundationcast iron and concrete caisson
Constructioncast iron
Tower shapesparkplug
Markings / patternwhite with black base and trim
Tower height15.5 metre 
Focal height51 feet (16 m)
Original lens4th order Fresnel
Current lens9.8 inches (250 mm)
Range12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) & 11 nautical miles (20 km; 13 mi)
CharacteristicFl W 6s with R sector
Fog signalHORN: 1 every 10s
USCG number1-3885[1][2][3]
Heritageplace listed on the National Register of Historic Places 
Goose Rocks Light Station
Nearest cityNorth Haven, Maine
Built1890
ArchitectUS Army Corps of Engineers
MPSLight Stations of Maine MPS
NRHP reference No.87002267[4]
Added to NRHPJanuary 21, 1988

Description and history

The Maine town of North Haven occupies a large eponymous island in the south center of Penobscot Bay. The island is studded with inlets and peninsulas, and is just north of Vinalhaven, the other major island of the Fox Islands group, from which it is separated by the Fox Island Thoroughfare. Goose Rocks is a ledge roughly between Stimpson Island (part of North Haven) and Widows Island (part of Vinalhaven) at the eastern end of the Thoroughfare. It is a sparkplug lighthouse, a four-level tapered structure with walls of cast iron plating set on a concrete base. The second level of the structure serves as the keeper's quarters, with the lantern house as the fourth stage.[5] The tower is painted white, with a black base and trim.[1]

The light station was established in 1890, at a time when Vinalhaven was the site of major granite quarries, and both communities were attracting a significant number of summer visitors. The light was automated in 1963.[5] Declared surplus in the 1990s, a proposal was first floated to turn the building over to the town of North Haven, but this was never realized. In 2006 it was sold to the non-profit Beacon Preservation organization. The light itself is maintained by the Coast Guard, and remains an active aid to navigation.

See also

References
  1. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maine". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-08-17. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
  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. 35.
  3. Rowlett, Russ (2009-10-09). "Lighthouses of the United States: Eastern Maine". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  4. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  5. "NRHP nomination for Goose Rocks Light". National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
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