| Location | Southern Island, Tenants Harbor, Maine |
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| Year first constructed | 1857 |
| Deactivated | 1933 |
| Foundation | Stone |
| Construction | Brick |
| Tower shape | Cylindrical tower, with attached dwelling |
| Markings / pattern | White with black lantern |
| Height | 27 ft (8 m) |
| Focal height | 66 ft (20 m) |
| Original lens | 4th order Fresnel lens, then 5th order |
| Range | 13nm |
| Fog signal | Bell in square pyramidal tower Current tower is a replica |
| ARLHS number | USA-840 |
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Tenants Harbor Light Station
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| Nearest city: | Tenants Harbor, Maine |
| Area: | 20 acres (8.1 ha) |
| Built: | 1857 |
| Architect: | US Army Corps of Engineers |
| Architectural style: | Cape Cod style keeper's residence |
| Governing body: | Private |
| MPS: | Light Stations of Maine MPS |
| NRHP Reference#: |
87002026 [3] |
| Added to NRHP: | November 20, 1987 |
Tenants Harbor Light, also known as Southern Island Light,[2] is a lighthouse at the mouth of Tenants Harbor, St. George, Maine. It appears in paintings by Andrew Wyeth and his son Jamie Wyeth, who have owned the light house since 1978.
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It was established in 1857 on Southern Island, on the south side of the entrance to the harbor. It is on the west side of Two Bush Channel, the southwestern entrance to Penobscot Bay.
The light was 66 feet (20 m) above the high water mark. By the 1900s a fifth order Fresnel lens replaced the original fourth order (larger) lens.
The 1½ story, wood-framed, colonial cape lighthouse keeper's residence was constructed in 1857. A brick covered passageway connects the tower and the keeper's quarters. Other buildings include a storage building (1895) an oil house (1906), a boathouse, and a hand-operated fog bell in a square pyramidal tower (automated subsequently).[1]
The light was discontinued in 1933 and auctioned off as surplus in 1936.
The lighthouse was purchased in 1978 by Andrew Wyeth. His son Jamie now owns it. He reconstructed the white square pyramid bell house and uses it as a studio.[2] The studio is said to be a scaled down replica of one of Lord Horatio Nelson's cabins on H.M.S. Victory. The lighthouse has appeared in several Wyeth paintings, including Fog Bell (1967)[4] and Signal Flags by Andrew Wyeth. Other lighthouse images by James Wyeth are: Iris at Sea[5] (painted as a fund raising project to benefit the Island Institute of Rockland);[6] Lighthouse Dandelions;[7] The Gaggle (1995)[8] Southern Island Sunset (1995),[9] and Lighthouse.[10] It is said that the light and the island were the subject of "dozens of paintings" by the Wyeths, some of which (from the personal collection of Andrew Wyeth and Betsy Jane Wyeth) are congregated at the Farnsworth Art Museum in a special Wyeth collection,[11][12] and part of the museum's periodically rotating shows.[13] Likewise, Jamie Wyeth has found the environs of Southern Island to be an inspiration for his art.[14]
Since it is one of eight privately held lights in Maine, although owned by the Wyeth family, it does not have the benefit of a local support group. Maine is the locale for two important national forces for lighthouse preservation: American Lighthouse Foundation and Lighthouse Digest magazine.[2]
Andrew Wyeth and the Tenants Harbor Light were the subject of an encomium published by the Island Institute: Island Journal Turns 25 (2009), It is said to include an 'extraordinary folio" of Andrew Wyeth's island work, as he was "a man who loved islands", particularly those in Maine.[15]
Tenants Harbor Light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as "Tenants Harbor Light Station" on November 20, 1987, reference number 87002026.[3]
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