Maine - Portland Head Lighthouse

The Portland Head Lighthouse is located at Fort Williams State Park, Cape Elizabeth, ME. Construction of Maine's oldest lighthouse began in 1787, but was abandoned before much could be accomplished due to lack of funds. In 1789 the new nation's first Congress appropriated $1,500 to complete the project. In November 1790 it was concluded, and President George Washington appointed Captain Joseph Greenleaf as the first keeper.

The fieldstone tower originally stood seventy-two feet high overall, but was shortened by more than one-third in 1813. It was restored in 1865 following public outcry over the loss of forty-two lives in the unfortunate shipwreck of the transatlantic steamer Bohemiam along the Cape Elizabeth shore. Local residents loudly protested a second lowering of the tower in 1883. They succeeded in having the cropped amount built back, and this time utilizing brick. The overall tower structure now rises eighty-feet above the rocky headland, and beams its white light from one-hundred-one feet above sea level.

The morning of my visit to this lighthouse in 1997, the fog was so thick the lighthouse was barely visible upon my arrival in the parking lot. After waiting for several minutes the fog finally moved and enabled me to cautiously walk along the rocky shore to get this picture. Although the top of the tower remained in the fog, I was able to take the picture at the moment the white light flashed through the fog. This can be seen better if you click on the picture.