Quoddy Head State Park is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

located four miles off

Maine State Route 189 State Route 189 (SR 189) is a numbered state highway in Maine, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Whiting in the west to the Canada–US border at Lubec in the east. In Lubec the route crosses the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bridge on ...

Lubec Lubec ( ) is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. It is the easternmost municipality in the contiguous U.S. (see extreme points of the United States) and is the country's closest continental location to Africa. The town, with a p ...

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 ...

on the easternmost point of land in the continental

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 territorie ...

. On its , purchased by the state in 1962, the park features of hiking trails, extensive forests, two bogs, diverse habitat for rare plants, and the striking, red-and-white striped lighthouse tower of

West Quoddy Head Light West Quoddy Head, in Quoddy Head State Park, Lubec, Maine, is the easternmost point of the contiguous United States. In 1808 a lighthouse was constructed at the site to guide ships through the Quoddy Narrows. The current tower, with distinctive ...

. In 1808, West Quoddy Head Light became the easternmost

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 the United States. Its light and fog cannon warned mariners of Quoddy's dangerous cliffs, ledges, and Sail Rock. Among the first to use a fog bell and later a steam-powered

foghorn A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. W ...

, this lighthouse greatly reduced shipwrecks in this foggy area, even as shipping increased. In 1858, the present red-and-white tower replaced the original. Monitored and serviced 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, mult ...

, its light still shines through its original third-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 ...

. After automation in 1988, the light station became part of adjacent Quoddy Head State Park. The tower is closed, but visitors are welcome to enjoy the lighthouse grounds and explore the

visitor center A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors. Types of visitor center A visit ...

and museum run by the West Quoddy Head Light Keepers Association. For a few weeks around the

equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...

es, West Quoddy Head is the first location in the United States to see the sunrise. Analysis by Blanton C. Wiggin, published in the January 1972 issue of ''

Yankee Magazine ''Yankee'' is a bimonthly (once every two months) magazine about lifestyle, travel and culture in the New England region of the United States, based in Dublin, New Hampshire. The first issue appeared in September 1935. It has a paid circulation ...

''. Quoddy Head State Park is also the closest geographic point in the United States to the African continent.

Gallery

File:Line2848 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg, A foggy day on the rocky coast File:Line2823 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg, The light and keeper's house File:West Quoddy Head Light - closeup.jpg, The light on a sunny day File:Quoddy Head State Park - panoramio (1).jpg, Like much of Maine, the coast at Quoddy Head is rocky West Quoddy Marker.jpg, Most Eastern Point in the USA Marker File:Quoddy Head Stairs.jpg, Staircase to the beach

References

External links

Quoddy Head State Park
Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Quoddy Head State Park Guide & Map
Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry {{authority control State parks of Maine Protected areas of Washington County, Maine Lubec, Maine