The Pemaquid Point Light is a historic

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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 ...

located in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, Lincoln County,

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 north ...

, at the tip of the Pemaquid Neck.

History

The lighthouse was commissioned in 1827 by President

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States S ...

and built that year. Because of poor workmanship (salt water was used in the mortar mix), the lighthouse began to crumble and was replaced in 1835. The second contract for the construction stipulated that only fresh water be used. Keeper Isaac Dunham oversaw the construction and wrote in a letter to the US Lighthouse Establishment that the agreement was upheld and the work went well. The original light was an Argand-Lewis

parabolic reflector A parabolic (or paraboloid or paraboloidal) reflector (or dish or mirror) is a reflective surface used to collect or project energy such as light, sound, or radio waves. Its shape is part of a circular paraboloid, that is, the surface generated ...

, lit with candles and with a visibility of . Augustin Fresnel invented a superior way of focusing light in the early 1850s and most lighthouses in the US were converted to the

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 ...

, with Pemaquid Point receiving a fourth order Fresnel in 1856. The lens is one of only six Fresnel lenses still in service in Maine. The keeper's house was built in 1857. Marcus A. Hanna, the only man ever awarded both the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

(earned during Civil War for bravery on July 4, 1863 ) and the Gold

Lifesaving Medal The Gold Lifesaving Medal and Silver Lifesaving Medal are U.S. decorations issued by the United States Coast Guard. The awards were established by Act of Congress, 20 June 1874; later authorized by . These decorations are two of the oldest med ...

(for rescuing life on January 28, 1885 at

Cape Elizabeth Cape Elizabeth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The town is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine, metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 census, Cape Elizabeth had a population of 9,535. ...

), once served as keeper of the light. The station was automated in 1934. By popular vote of Maine residents, the lighthouse was chosen to be featured on the Maine

quarter A quarter is one-fourth, , 25% or 0.25. Quarter or quarters may refer to: Places * Quarter (urban subdivision), a section or area, usually of a town Placenames * Quarter, South Lanarkshire, a settlement in Scotland * Le Quartier, a settlement ...

, the 23rd in the 50 State Quarters Program issued by the U.S. Mint. Also depicted is a 3-masted

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

intended to resemble the Victory Chimes. Exposed

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...

descends from the lighthouse to the ocean creating a unique, scenic landscape. The geological history of these formations dates back hundreds of millions of years. These imposing structures have made this lighthouse with its setting one of the most photographed on the Maine coast. In addition to the image found on the state quarter, an image of Pemaquid Point lighthouse is featured as a possible background in Windows 7. The lighthouse is owned by the U.S. Coast Guard and is licensed to the American Lighthouse Foundation. Friends of Pemaquid Point Lighthouse (FPPL), one of the 21 chapters of the Foundation, operates the lighthouse. Upkeep and ongoing restoration are funded solely by visitor donations. FPPL member docents open the lighthouse for visits from mid-May to mid-October. The lighthouse was added to 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 'Pemaquid Point Light' on April 16, 1985, reference number 85000843.

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse Park

The Bristol Parks and Recreation Department owns and operates the outbuildings surrounding the lighthouse as Pemaquid Point Lighthouse Park. The keeper's house is now the Fishermen's Museum at Pemaquid, which contains displays and artifacts of the lighthouse and local maritime history. Opened in 2008, the Learning Center is a community resource for offering movies, classes and concerts. Other activities in the park include viewing the lighthouse, picnicking, and viewing local paintings at the Pemaquid Art Gallery. A State Historic Site exists close by that features artifacts from Colonial Pemaquid, where a small colony of English settlers was formed in 1635 after their ship, the

Angel Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

, was wrecked by the

Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635 The Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635 brushed Virginia and then passed over southeastern New England in August. Accounts of the storm are very limited, but it was likely the most intense hurricane to hit New England since European colonization. M ...

Geology

Silurian Period sediments laid down 430 million years ago were metamorphosed underground into a gneiss 360–415 million years ago, and intruded by molten rock which cooled slowly, creating the park's exposed metamorphic gray rocks with dikes of harder, white igneous rock. Underground heat and pressure tortured and folded the rock layers into the striking patterns that are now pounded and polished by the sea and rough weather.

List of Light Keepers

(Keeper; Date appointed): *Isaac Dunham: 3 November 1827 *Nathaniel Gammage, Jr.: 13 June 1837 *Robert Curtis: 31 July 1849 *Samuel C. Tibbetts: 9 April 1853 *John Fossett: 12 February 1858 *J. Lawler: 29 March 1861 *Marcus A. Hanna: 30 July 1869 *William L Sartell: 31 July 1873 *Charles A. Dolliver: 28 September 1883 *Clarence E. Marr: 16 August 1899 *Leroy S. Ewell: 1 July 1922

Gallery

File:Pemaquid Point Light Station Sign, Bristol, Maine, USA 2012.jpg, Pemaquid Point Light Station Sign, Bristol, Maine, USA 2012 File:preston-pemaquid-lighthouse.jpg, Pemaquid Point Lighthouse File:preston-pemaquid-bellhouse.jpg, The bellhouse originally contained a bell and a weight-driven mechanism to ring it. The small tower contained the weight. File:Maine quarter, reverse side, 2003.jpg, The Pemaquid Point Lighthouse as depicted on the Maine state quarter File:Pemaquid-lighthouse.jpg, Pemaquid Point Lighthouse at sunrise File:View-pemaquid.jpg, A view from the rocks of Pemaquid Point Lighthouse

References

External links

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse ParkThe Fishermen's Museum at PemaquidBristol Lighthouse Committee
{{authority control Houses completed in 1857 Lighthouses completed in 1822 Lighthouses completed in 1835 Lighthouses in Lincoln County, Maine Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Maritime museums in Maine Museums in Lincoln County, Maine Parks in Maine Towers completed in 1827 National Register of Historic Places in Lincoln County, Maine Bristol, Maine 1822 establishments in Maine