Portland Head Light
Portland Head Light in late-June 2009.
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| Location | Portland Head off Shore Rd., Cape Elizabeth, Maine |
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| Coordinates | 43°37′23″N 70°12′28″W / 43.62306°N 70.20778°WCoordinates: 43°37′23″N 70°12′28″W / 43.62306°N 70.20778°W |
| Year first constructed | 1791 |
| Year first lit | 1791 |
| Automated | 1989 |
| Foundation | Natural emplaced |
| Construction | Rubble stone with brick lining |
| Tower shape | Conical |
| Markings / pattern | White with black trim |
| Focal height | 101 feet (31 m) |
| Original lens | Fourth order Fresnel lens |
| Current lens | DCB 224 airport aerobeacon |
| Range | 24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi) |
| Characteristic | Flashing white 4s Lighted continuously |
| Fog signal |
HORN: 1 blast ev 15s |
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Portland Headlight [sic]
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| Area | 10 acres (4.0 ha) |
| Architect | Nichols, John; Bryant, Jonathan |
| NRHP Reference # | 73000121 |
| Added to NRHP | April 24, 1973 |
HORN: 1 blast ev 15s
Portland Head Light is a historic lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The light station sits on a head of land at the entrance of the primary shipping channel into Portland Harbor, which is within Casco Bay in the Gulf of Maine. Completed in 1791, it is the oldest lighthouse in the state of Maine. The light station is automated, and the tower, beacon, and foghorn are maintained by the United States Coast Guard, while the former lighthouse keepers' house is a maritime museum within Fort Williams Park.
Construction began in 1787 at the directive of George Washington, and was completed on January 10, 1791 using a fund of 1,500 dollars established by him. Whale oil lamps were originally used for illumination. In 1855, following formation of the Lighthouse Board, a fourth-order Fresnel lens was installed; that lens was replaced by a second-order Fresnel lens, which was replaced later by an aero beacon in 1958. That lens was updated with an DCB-224 aero beacon in 1991.
In 1787, while Maine was still part of the state of Massachusetts, George Washington engaged two masons from the town of Portland, Jonathan Bryant and John Nichols, and instructed them to take charge of the construction of a lighthouse on Portland Head. Washington reminded them that the early government was poor, and said that the materials used to build the lighthouse should be taken from the fields and shores, which could be handled nicely when hauled by oxen on a drag. The original plans called for the tower to be 58 feet tall. When the masons completed this task they climbed to the top of the tower and realized that it would not be visible beyond the headlands to the south, so it was raised approximately 20 feet.
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