Eagle Island Light

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For Eagle Island Lighthouse in County Mayo, Ireland, see Eagle Island, County Mayo

Eagle Island Light
Location Eagle Island
Coordinates 44°13′3.53″N 68°46′3.98″W / 44.2176472°N 68.7677722°W / 44.2176472; -68.7677722Coordinates: 44°13′3.53″N 68°46′3.98″W / 44.2176472°N 68.7677722°W / 44.2176472; -68.7677722
Year first constructed 1838
Year first lit 1858
Automated 1963
Foundation Natural / emplaced
Construction Granite rubblestone
Tower shape Conical Tower
Markings / pattern White with black lantern
Height 30 feet (9.1 m)
Focal height 106 feet (32 m)
Original lens 4th order Fresnel lens
Range 9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi)
Characteristic Fl W 4s
Fog signal none
Admiralty number J0078
ARLHS number USA-256
USCG number 1-3455[1][2][3]

Eagle Island Light is a lighthouse on Eagle Island in Penobscot Bay. The tower was first lit in 1838 but had to be torn down because of physical defects. It was rebuilt in 1858 and operated by several families over the next century. In 1959 the light was automated, and five years later, over vehement local protests, the keeper's house was torn down and the bell was removed. The crew that removed the bell lost control of it, and it fell into the Bay. A lobsterman salvaged it some years later and it is on exhibit on Great Spruce Head Island.

Today Eagle Light is owned by a nonprofit which provides public access and has restored both the light itself and the square pyramidal bell tower. Along with several other lights in Maine, the growth of trees around the light has made its future problematic.[3]

References


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