Pumpkin Island Light

Pumpkin Island Light is a lighthouse on Pumpkin Island, at the northwestern entrance to Eggemoggin Reach, a channel running northwest to southeast between Penobscot Bay and Blue Hill Bay on the central-eastern coast of Maine. The light station was established in 1854 and discontinued in 1933. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Pumpkin Island Light Station on February 1, 1988.[2] The island and former light station are privately owned.

Pumpkin Island Light
US Coast Guard photo
LocationPumpkin Island, Deer Isle, Maine
Coordinates44°18′33″N 68°44′34.4″W
Year first constructed1854[1]
Automated1930
Deactivated1933
FoundationStone
ConstructionBrick
Tower shapeConical Tower
Markings / patternWhite
Tower height25 feet (7.6 m)
Original lensFifth Order Fresnel Lens
Heritageplace listed on the National Register of Historic Places 
Pumpkin Island Light Station
Area3 acres (1.2 ha)
MPSLight Stations of Maine MPS
NRHP reference No.87002537[2]
Added to NRHPFebruary 1, 1988

Description and history

Pumpkin Island is roughly 3 acres (1.2 ha) in size and is located off the northern tip of Little Deer Island on the east side of Penobscot Bay. The channel to the east of the island, Eggemoggin Reach, connects Penobscot Bay to Blue Hill Bay further east. The island was chosen (in preference to a site on the mainland to the north) in 1852 to be the site of the station marking the northwestern end of the channel. Construction began in 1854, and the station entered service the following year.[3]

The tower is a round brick structure, measuring 22 feet (6.7 m) from its base to the light. It is capped by an octagonal lantern house that was installed in about 1890, replacing an original larger unit. An iron walkway with railing surround the lantern house. There are two windows in the tower, and a frame workroom to the south connects it to the keeper's house. The house is a small, three-bay, single-story, wood-frame clapboarded structure, with a single gabled dormer on the east side and a wing (added in 1887) extending to the south. A small brick oil house stands a short way off, and there is a wood-frame boathouse, built in 1885 and enlarged in 1906, at the boat slip on the north end of the island.[4]

The light station was built as part of a comprehensive plan for providing aids to navigation on the east side of Penobscot Bay that was developed in the early 1850s. The light was operated until 1933, when it was discontinued and sold. The island and buildings have remained in private hands since that time.[4]

See also

References
  1. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maine". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-08-06. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  3. "Pumpkin Island Light". Lighthouse Friends. Retrieved 2015-03-23.
  4. "NRHP nomination for Pumpkin Island Light". National Park Service. Retrieved 2015-03-23.
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