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Bear Island Light is a
The tower is a cylindrical brick structure, in height, with an attached gable-roofed workroom, and was built in 1889. It is topped by a polygonal lantern chamber, with a surrounding iron parapet and railing. There are two narrow windows in the tower, and two into the workroom, which also has the entrance providing access to the tower. The keeper's house is a modest -story wood-frame structure, with a gambrel roof pierced by gable-roof dormers.
The light station includes three outbuildings. The largest is a gable-roofed barn, set at a remove from the keeper's house and tower. Just to the barn's southwest is a small stone oil house, built in 1905. To the northwest of the tower is the station's boathouse and
United States Lighthouses - Bear Island Lighthouse
{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1839 Lighthouses completed in 1889 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Lighthouses in Hancock County, Maine National Register of Historic Places in Acadia National Park Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine National Register of Historic Places in Hancock County, Maine 1839 establishments in Maine
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Lighthouses mar ...
on Bear Island near Mt. Desert Island, at the entrance to Northeast Harbor, Maine. It was first established in 1839. The present structure was built in 1889. It was deactivated in 1981 and relit as a private aid to navigation by the Friends of Acadia National Park
Acadia National Park is an American national park located along the mid-section of the Maine coast, southwest of Bar Harbor. The park preserves about half of Mount Desert Island, part of the Isle au Haut, the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, and ...
in 1989. Bear Island Light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
as Bear Island Light Station on March 14, 1988.
Description and history
Bear Island Light was authorized by federal legislation signed by PresidentMartin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (Uni ...
in 1838. The government acquired of land at the southwestern end of Bear Island, and in 1839 constructed a stone keeper's house, on top of which a light was mounted. This structure burned in 1852, and was replaced the following year by a brick tower. A fifth order Fresnel lens
A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships."
The design allows the c ...
was installed in the tower in 1855, and a fog station was added in 1888. In 1889 the 1852 tower was torn down and most of the present complex of buildings was constructed. The Coast Guard discontinued the light in the 1980s, replacing it with an offshore buoy with a bell and light. The Bear Island property became part of Acadia National Park
Acadia National Park is an American national park located along the mid-section of the Maine coast, southwest of Bar Harbor. The park preserves about half of Mount Desert Island, part of the Isle au Haut, the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, and ...
in 1987. The station was restored in 1989 by the Friends of Acadia, and relit as a private aid to navigation.
The tower is a cylindrical brick structure, in height, with an attached gable-roofed workroom, and was built in 1889. It is topped by a polygonal lantern chamber, with a surrounding iron parapet and railing. There are two narrow windows in the tower, and two into the workroom, which also has the entrance providing access to the tower. The keeper's house is a modest -story wood-frame structure, with a gambrel roof pierced by gable-roof dormers.
The light station includes three outbuildings. The largest is a gable-roofed barn, set at a remove from the keeper's house and tower. Just to the barn's southwest is a small stone oil house, built in 1905. To the northwest of the tower is the station's boathouse and slip
Slip or SLIP may refer to:
Science and technology Biology
* Slip (fish), also known as Black Sole
* Slip (horticulture), a small cutting of a plant as a specimen or for grafting
* Muscle slip, a branching of a muscle, in anatomy
Computing and ...
. The boathouse is a frame structure with a gable roof and shingled sides, and was also built in 1905.
See also
*National Register of Historic Places listings in Hancock County, Maine
__NOTOC__
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Hancock County, Maine.
This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Hancock County, Maine, ...
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Acadia National Park This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Acadia National Park.
This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Acadia National Park, Maine, United S ...
References
External links
United States Lighthouses - Bear Island Lighthouse
{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1839 Lighthouses completed in 1889 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Lighthouses in Hancock County, Maine National Register of Historic Places in Acadia National Park Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine National Register of Historic Places in Hancock County, Maine 1839 establishments in Maine