Portland Head Lighthouse

Portland Head Lighthouse, ME

This is the Portland Head Lighthouse, one of the best known and most photographed lighthouses in the U.S.

It was completed in January 1791.

The original tower was 72 feet high, and the light comprised 16 whale oil lamps.

In 1865, the lighthouse was raised 20 feet. The current lighthouse keeper's house was built in 1891, and houses the Portland Head Lighthouse Museum. It replaced the original two roomed hut.

Some of the rocky coastline around the lighthouse.

An older photograph of the lighthouse probably taken in the 1960s.

Near the Portland Head Lighthouse this rock was painted to record the shipwreck, in 1886, of the Annie C Maguire. Another nearby shipwreck, at Cape Elizabeth, was the Bohemian in 1864. The next picture shows a closeup of the text on the rock. In the distance you can see the Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse.

A closeup of the text on the rock in the previous picture.

The Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse from an old US Coast Card picture. It is a 90 foot (~27.5 meters) tall granite tower which was built in 1905 and automated in 1959. It is privately owned and remains operational.

This is the Portland Head Lighthouse, one of the best known and most photographed lighthouses in the U.S.

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