On Friday, February 5, 2010
Historian Edward Rowe Snow wrote, "Portland Head and its light seem to symbolize the state of Maine -- rocky coast, breaking waves, sparkling water and clear, pure salt air."
The hundreds of thousands of people who visit Portland Head each year would agree; this is one of the most strikingly beautiful lighthouse locations in New England.
-
Portland, which was known as Falmouth until 1786, was America's sixth busiest port by the 1790s. Even so, Maine had no lighthouses when 74 merchants petitioned the Massachusetts government (Maine was part of Massachusetts at the time) in 1784 for a light to mark the entrance to Portland Harbor. The deaths of two people in a 1787 shipwreck at Bangs (now Cushing) Island near Portland Head finally led to the appropriation of $750 for a lighthouse.
The project was delayed by insufficient funds, and construction didn't progress until 1790 when Congress appropriated an additional $1,500, after the nation's lighthouses had been ceded to the federal government.
The stone lighthouse was built by local masons Jonathan Bryant and John Nichols. The original plan was for a 58-foot tower, but when it was realized that the light would be blocked from the south it was decided to make the tower 72 feet in height instead. Bryant resigned over the change, and Nichols finished the lighthouse in January 1791.
President George Washington appointed Capt. Joseph Greenleaf, a Revolutionary War veteran, to be the first keeper. At first, Greenleaf received no salary as keeper; his payment was the right to fish and farm and to live in the keeper's house. In 1793, officials decided to pay Greenleaf an annual salary of $160. The keeper died of a stroke in his boat on the Fore River two years later.
By 1810, the lighthouse and keeper's house were in poor condition; the woodwork was damp and rotting. Part of the problem was that the keeper was storing a year's supply of oil in one room, putting great stress on the floor. Repairs were made, and an outdoor oil shed was added. In 1813, a new lantern and a system of lamps and reflectors designed by Winslow Lewis were installed at a cost of $2,100. A new keeper's house was built in 1816. Quoted from -http://lighthouse.cc/portlandhead/history.html
The old Fort Williams
Fort Williams Park is only a few minutes drive from downtown Portland. A very accessible park with a quintessential Maine view.
It may be cold, but winter days are always perfect for a crystal clear view.
The Museum at Portland Head Light opened in the former keeper's house in 1992. The museum focuses on the history of the lighthouse and nearby Fort Williams.
The Portland Lighthouse is believed to be Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s inspiration for his poem The Lighthouse.
Sail on; Sail on ye stately ships;
And with your floating bridge the ocean span;
Be mine to guard this light from all eclipse
Be yours to bring man near unto man.
On Christmas Eve, 1886, the British bark Annie C. Maguire ran ashore on the rocks at Portland Head. Everyone made it to shore.
A family from Pittsburg visiting a couple who moved to Maine recently.
No comments:
Post a Comment