Pemaquid Point Light

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**Pemaquid Point Light**
Pemaquid Point Lighthouse
Location:	Entrance to Muscongus Bay
Coordinates WGS-84 (GPS)	43°50′12″N, 69°30′21″W
Foundation:	Natural Emplaced
Construction:	Rubble stone
Year first lit:	1835 (current tower)
Year first constructed:	1827
Automated:	1934
Tower shape:	conical
Markings/Pattern:	white with black lantern
Height:	79 feet
Original lens:	Argand lamps
Range:	14 nm
Characteristic:	Flashing white 6 s

The Pemaquid Point Lighthouse as depicted on the Maine state quarter

The Pemaquid Point Light Station is an historic U.S. lighthouse located in Bristol, Maine, at the tip of the Pemaquid Peninsula.

1 History
2 Historical Information from Coast Guard web site
3 List of Light Keepers
4 Gallery

[edit] History

The lighthouse was commissioned in 1827 by John Quincy Adams and built that year. Due to poor workmanship (easily available 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, lit with candles and with a visibility of 2 miles. Augustin Fresnel invented a superior way of producing light in the early 1850's and most lighthouses in the US were converted to the Fresnel Lens, with Pemaquid Point receiving a fourth order Fresnel in 1856. The keeper's house was built in 1857.

[edit] Historical Information from Coast Guard web site

The United States Government established the original Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, about 1/3 of a mile from Pemaquid Point at the entrance to Muscongus Bay. President John Quincy Adams ordered the original structure built in 1827. Later, in 1857, President James Buchanan ordered the light reconstructed. The current structure is a white, pyramidal tower, 34 feet high and exhibiting its light at 79 feet above sea level. The only man to ever win the Medal of Honor and the Gold Lifesaving Medal, Marcus A. Hanna, once served as keeper of the light. The station became automated in 1934.