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Managing Organization:
U.S. Coast Guard
Notes:
Keeper Augustus Hamor, at Owls Head in the 1930s, had a dog named Spot. Spot acted as an extra fog signal, barking at approaching boats in bad weather. He was once credited with saving the Matinicus mail boat from disaster. The keeper's house at the lighthouse station today serves as housing for a Coast Guard family, but the grounds are open to the public. The surrounding land is Owls Head Light State Park.
Tower Height: 30
Height of Focal Plane: 100
Characteristic and Range: Fixed white.
Description of Tower: Conical white brick tower with black cast iron lantern.
This light is operational
Other Buildings?
1854 1.5 story wood frame keeper's cottage, 1895 oil house, generator building.
Earlier Towers?
1825: first tower.
Date Established: 1825
Date Present Tower Built: 1854
Date Automated: 1989
Optics: 1856: Fourth order Fresnel lens (still in use).
Fog Signal: Fog bell and striking machinery in pyramidal bell tower, c. 1880s; now automated fog horn with two blasts every 20 seconds.
Current Use: Active aid to navigation, Coast Guard housing.
Open To Public? Grounds only.
Directions:
From ME 73 in Owls Head: Turn left onto North Shore Road, marked by an "Owls Head State Park - 3.6 miles" sign. Continue for about 2.5 miles; turn left at a triangular intersection ("Owls Head State Park" sign onto Main Street. After 0.2 mile turn left at Lighthouse Road and continue a little more than one-half mile the large free parking area at Owls Head Light State Park. There is about a 0.2 mile walk to the light station. Handicapped-licensed vehicles are permitted to drive to space right by the station's steel fire gate. The lighthouse is reached by walking up a series of ramps and stairways. Before reaching the light station you can also walk to a beach on the left with another view of the lighthouse. Owls Head Light can be seen from many cruises in the area, including some of the lighthouse cruises on board the Lively Lady Too out of Camden; call (207) 236-6672 or see www3.sympatico.ca/lively.lady/ for information.
Mapquest URL: Click here to get a map to this lighthouse!
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Keepers: Isaac Sterns (1825-1838); William Masters (1838-1841 and 1845-1849); Perly (Pearly?) Haines (1841-1845); Henry Achorn (1849-1853); Joshua Adams (1853-1857); Asa Coombs (1857-1861); G. D. Worcester (Woolsley) (1861-1873); Joseph Maddocks (1873-1896); G. H. Maddocks (1896-1904?); Llewellyn Samuel Norwood (1904-1911); Paul Sawyer (1911); Charles Sawyer (1911?); Charles Franklin Chester (c.1911-1921); Allen Carter Holt (c. 1920-?); Augustus B. Hamor (1930-1945); George Woodward (1945-?); Archford (Archie) Haskins (c. 1950); Douglas L. Larabee (1952-1963); Dan Elliott (Coast Guard relief keeper, 1954); Leon Detz (Coast Guard, 1963-1970); Ed Dodge (Coast Guard relief keeper c. 1962-1964); Melvin Davis (Coast Guard, c. 1960s); David Bennett (Coast Guard, circa 1973); John Norton (Coast Guard, early 1980s); Andy German (Coast Guard, 1983-1987); Gerard J. Graham (Coast Guard, 1987-1988); Malcolm Rouse (Coast Guard, c. 1988-1989).
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