Boon Island Light is located on the
Boon Island
Boon Island is a barren, rocky island in the Gulf of Maine off the coast of York, Maine. The island, which is approximately by at low tide, is the site of Boon Island Light, at high, it is the tallest lighthouse in New England. Numerous ves ...
off the southern coast of
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, near
Cape Neddick
Cape Neddick is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of York in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,568 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine Metropolitan Statisti ...
.
Boon Island Light has the distinction of being the tallest lighthouse in both Maine and
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
at . The lighthouse has a focal plane at above mean high water. The light's beacon flashes white every 5 seconds.
History
Talk of building a lighthouse on Boon Island dates back as early as 1710 when the ship ''Nottingham Galley'' ran aground on the barren outcrop that makes up the island. The crew of the ''Galley'' were forced to resort to
cannibalism before being rescued. In 1799 the first day marker and a 50-foot wooden tower were established on the island, but it was washed away in the first 5 years. A stone day beacon was established in its place. In 1811 the station was converted to a full light station and a granite tower was constructed. This first tower was washed away in a storm in 1832.
The current 133 foot cylindrical brown granite tower was constructed in 1855 and originally had a second 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 ...
installed. At the time, it was the tallest lighthouse in New England (base to tip, but not the highest light above sea level). A new keeper's dwelling was also built at this time.
Boon Island Light suffered extensive damage in a blizzard in 1978. Several stones that make up the tower itself were washed into the sea as were all of the keepers dwellings and other outbuildings that had been on the island. As a result, the station was automated in 1980 and a solar powered beacon was installed by the
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...
. The station is currently active and controlled by the Coast Guard while the lighthouse itself is on lease to the
American Lighthouse Foundation. The lighthouse 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 ...
as Boon Island Light Station on March 14, 1988, reference number 88000153.
Historical information from Coast Guard web site:
President James Madison authorized the building of Boon Island Lighthouse during the War of 1812. A new lighthouse tower was erected near the old tower in 1855, consisting of a gray granite conical tower, 133 feet above the water, off the coast of Maine.
As Boon Island is a very flat piece of land, well surrounded by ledges, the tower appears at times to be springing up from the sea from a submerged ledge, especially when low clouds are flying. One of the most isolated stations off the Maine coast, it is also one of the most dangerous.
One story is told of how the keepers were once marooned on the island for several weeks because of storms and rough weather. Their food supplies were low and starvation seemed to be staring them in the face. Just at the point of desperation a boat appeared and they signaled for help. The keeper's message in a bottle was picked up by the passing schooner which hove to and anchored until the sea went down. Then the crew packed some food in a mackerel barrel and set it afloat. It drifted right into a little cove on the island and then the sea caught it and bounced it well up on the bank, out of the way of the surf. The hunger of the keepers was appeased until they were able to go ashore and get supplies at the village of York.
The lighthouse was purchased from the General Services Administration in 2014 for $78,000, by Art Girard, a resident of Portland, Maine.
Legends and lore
During the 19th century a keeper died while on the island leaving his wife alone to tend to the station. She did so until she went insane and was found wandering the island by members of a rescue ship.
Viewing
Boon Island Light is not open to the public. The only way to view the tower is by boat or aircraft.
Keepers
*David Oliver (c. 1811)
*Thomas Hanna (c. 1811–1816)
*Eliphalet Grover (1816–1839)
*Mark Dennet (1840–1841)
*John Thompson (1841–1843)
*Morgan Trafton (1842 assistant keeper, lost in boating accident)
*John Kennard (1843–1846)
*Nathaniel Baker (1849)
*John Thompson (1846–1849)
*Hiram Tobey (1853)
*Caleb S. Gould (1853–1854)
*George Bowden (1854–1855)
*Josiah Tobey Jr. (assistant, 1855)
*Samuel S. Tobey (assistant, 1856)
*Christopher Littlefield (1854)
*Sam Philbrick (1854)
*Charles H. Tobey (assistant 1850, keeper 1856)
*Charles E. Thompson (1858)
*John S. Baker (assistant, 1858)
*Nathaniel Baker (1859)
*William L. Baker (assistant, 1859)
![Boon Island Light](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Boon_Island_Light.JPG)
*Cabin (?) Gray (1861)
*George B. Wallace (June 1861 – 1866)
*Benjamin Bridges (1861)
*George E. Bridges (1864)
*Richard C. Yeaton (1864)
*Charles Ramsdell (assistant 1865)
*Joshua K. Card (1867–1874)
*George H. Yeaton (assistant 1867)
*Samuel Meloon (assistant, 1868)
*Nathan White Jr. (assistant 1870)
*Alfred J. Leavitt (1874-1886?)
*Leander White (1st assistant, 1874)
*Edwin J. Hobbs (assistant, 1874–1876)
*David R. Grogan (assistant, 1876, keeper 1879)
*George O. Leavitt (assistant, 1878)
*Walter S. Amee (Ames?) (2nd assistant, 1878)
*John Kennard (1884)
*William C. Williams (1st assistant 1885, then keeper 1885–1911)
*James Burke (2nd assistant, 1886–1887, 1st assistant 1887–1890)
*Orrin M. Lamprey (1886)
*Meshach M. Seaward (2nd assistant, 1886–1900)
*Leonidas H. Sawyer (2nd assistant, 1889. keeper 1889)
*Charles W. Allen (2nd assistant, 1907–1911, first assistant 1911-?)
*Mitchell Blackwood (c. 1911)
*Harold Hutchins (c. 1923–1933)
*Fred C. Batty (assistant, c. early 1930s)
*Clinton Dalzell (assistant c. 1934)
*George Woodward (assistant?, c. 1920s)
*C. A. Tracy (c. 1935)
*Hoyt P. Smith (c. 1935)
*E. Stockbridge, assistant (c. 1935)
*Charles U. Gardner (Coast Guard relief keeper, c, 1942–1943)
*John H. Morris (Coast Guard, c. 1945)
*Ted Guice (Coast Guard assistant, c. 1945)
*Kendrick Capon (Coast Guard, c. 1950s)
*Harold L. Roberts (Coast Guard, 1956)
*Leonard John "Moon" Mullen (Coast Guard, c.1956)
*Charles Allen (1st assistant, c. 1957, served 6 years)
*Robert Brann (c. 1958)
*Arthur D. Blackburn (1965-1967)
*Dave Wells (Coast Guard, 1966)
*August "Gus" Pfister (Coast Guard, 1967–1968)
*Thomas Lee (Coast Guard, 1970–1971)
*Bob Roberts (Coast Guard, 1970s)
*Fred Kendall (1973–1975)
[Lighthouse Depot: *Boone Island Light](_blank)
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See also
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References
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Lighthouses completed in 1811
Towers completed in 1811
Lighthouses completed in 1855
Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Lighthouses in York County, Maine
Buildings and structures in York, Maine
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
National Register of Historic Places in York County, Maine