Hendricks Head Light

Hendricks Head Light

Undated US Coast Guard photo
Hendricks Head Light
Location Sheepscot River, Maine
Coordinates 43°49′21.282″N 69°41′23.011″W / 43.82257833°N 69.68972528°W / 43.82257833; -69.68972528Coordinates: 43°49′21.282″N 69°41′23.011″W / 43.82257833°N 69.68972528°W / 43.82257833; -69.68972528
Year first constructed 1829 (1829)
Year first lit 1875 (current structure)
Automated 1975
Deactivated 1933-1951
Tower shape Square Brick Tower
Markings / pattern White
Focal height 43 feet (13 m)
Original lens 4th order Fresnel lens
Current lens 9.8 inches (250 mm)
Range 9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi) & 7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi)
Characteristic F W with R sector
Fog signal Bell originally
now none
Admiralty number J0144
ARLHS number USA-597
USCG number

1-5665[1][2][3]

Hendricks Head Light Station
Nearest city West Southport, Maine
Built 1875
Architect US Army Corps of Engineers
MPS Light Stations of Maine MPS
NRHP Reference # 87002024[4]
Added to NRHP November 20, 1987

Hendricks Head Light is a lighthouse in Southport, Maine marking the west side of the mouth of the Sheepscot River. The light station was established in 1829, and its present structures date to 1875. It was deactivated in 1933, but relit in 1951. The two-story wood keeper's house is now a private summer residence. The light is on continuously, showing white to the west and red to the east. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Hendricks Head Light Station on November 20, 1987.[4]

Description and history

The town of Southport occupies an eponymous island on the Mid Coast of Maine, separating the Sheepscot River from the Boothbay Harbor. Hendricks Head is a peninsula extending southwest on the northern part of the island's western shore, and marks the westernmost point of the island. The lighthouse is located at the tip of the peninsula. The station includes a tower, keeper's house, fog bell tower, shed, and oil house. The tower is a tapered square-shingled wood-frame structure, topped by an octagonal lantern house. It was originally connected to the keeper's house via a covered walkway. The keeper's house is a T-shaped  2 1⁄2-story wood-frame building. The bell tower is a roughly pyramidal structure, with a central enclosed section housing the bell.[5]

The light station was established in 1829 to mark the mouth of the Sheepscot River, which provided access to the then-important shipbuilding and port center of Wiscasset. The original light station consisted of a keeper's house, built on a rubble foundation, with the lantern house mounted on top. The present tower and keeper's house were built in 1875, the house on the foundation of the previous building.[5]


See also

References

  1. ↑ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maine". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-08-06.
  2. ↑ United States Coast Guard (2009). Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. p. 49.
  3. ↑ Rowlett, Russ (2009-10-09). "Lighthouses of the United States: Southern Maine". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  4. 1 2 National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  5. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for Hendricks Head Light" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-04-24.

Media related to Hendricks Head Light at Wikimedia Commons

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