Hendricks Head Light is a

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 ...

in Southport, Maine marking the west side of the mouth of the

Sheepscot River The Sheepscot River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 22, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Maine. Its lower portion is a complex island estuary with connections to ...

. The light station was established in 1829, and its present structures date to 1875. It was deactivated in 1933, but relit in 1951. The two-story wood keeper's house is now a private summer residence. The light is on continuously, showing white to the west and red to the east. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Hendricks Head Light Station on November 20, 1987.

Description and history

The town of Southport occupies an eponymous island on the

Mid Coast The Midcoast is a region of Maine that includes the coastal counties of Lincoln, Knox, Waldo, Sagadahoc, and the northern coastal portion of Cumberland counties. Some of the towns are: *Alna * Arrowsic * Bath *Belfast *Boothbay * Boothbay ...

of Maine, separating the

from the Boothbay Harbor. Hendricks Head is a peninsula extending southwest on the northern part of the island's western shore, and marks the westernmost point of the island. The lighthouse is located at the tip of the peninsula. The station includes a tower, keeper's house, fog bell tower, shed, and oil house. The tower is a tapered square-shingled wood-frame structure, topped by an octagonal lantern house. It was originally connected to the keeper's house via a covered walkway. The keeper's house is a T-shaped -story wood-frame building. The bell tower is a roughly pyramidal structure, with a central enclosed section housing the bell. The light station was established in 1829 to mark the mouth of the Sheepscot River, which provided access to the then-important shipbuilding and port center of

Wiscasset Wiscasset is a town in and the seat of Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The municipality is located in the state of Maine's Mid Coast region. The population was 3,742 as of the 2020 census. Home to the Chewonki Foundation, Wiscasset is a ...

. The original light station consisted of a keeper's house, built on a rubble foundation, with the lantern house mounted on top. The present tower and keeper's house were built in 1875, the house on the foundation of the previous building.

References

External links

Hendricks Head Light
Website created by current owners of lighthouse about its history. {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1829 Lighthouses completed in 1875 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Lighthouses in Lincoln County, Maine Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine National Register of Historic Places in Lincoln County, Maine

Description and history

See also

References

External links