Ships hit the rock in 1835. Another wreck happened in 1861. Construction began but was delayed time and time again due to lack of supplies and lack of workmen. The first light finally shone in 1871.
The tower stands 76 feet tall. It sits on a barren ledge in Casco Bay. It is only ten feet above high tide on calm days. Storms make it hard to see. Keepers lived inside the tower. They got a new room in 1888. The Coast Guard started shuttling them to the mainland in the 1930s.
The Perfect Storm took out the marine railway in 1991. Storms in 2007 wrecked the wood building. The old Fresnel lens is in a museum at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London. The light was automated in 1975 and the keepers were removed.
A private individual bought the station in 2014. It cost $283,000. You can see the restoration progress on DIY Network. It is no longer a government outpost.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Leroy
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