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Managing Organization:
U.S. Coast Guard
Tower Height: 32
Height of Focal Plane: 56
Characteristic and Range: Red light occulting 4 every seconds, visible for 13 nautical miles. Lighted 24 hours.
Description of Tower: White brick cylindrical tower attached to keeper's house.
This light is operational
Other Buildings?
1858 1.5 story wood frame T-shape keeper's house, 1902 brick oil house, 1898 fog bell building.
Date Established: 1858
Date Present Tower Built: 1858
Date Automated: 1974
Optics: 1858: Fifth order Fresnel lens; 1902: Fourth order Fresnel lens (still in use).
Fog Signal: 1876: fog bell in pyramidal tower; 1898: 4,000 pound fog bell and striking mechanism in fog bell house.
Current Use: Active aid to navigation, Coast Guard housing.
Open To Public? Grounds only.
Directions:
Follow ME 3 south from US Route 1 in Ellsworth onto Mount Desert Island. At the intersection with Route 198 (where Route 3 turns left to Bar Harbor), take Route 198 to its intersection with Route 102. Continue through Somesville and Southwest Harbor and on to Bass Harbor. You will come to a fork with a dirt road going straight ahead; the left fork is Route 102A. Take the dirt road straight ahead. Follow the signs to the lighthouse. There is limited free parking at the station and a trail leads to the rocks below for good views. Another trail leads next to the lighthouse. Island Cruises of Bass Harbor offers a variety of cruises; some pass Bass Harbor Head Light.
Mapquest URL: Click here to get a map to this lighthouse!
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Keepers: John Thurston (1858-1861); John Rick (1861-1865); John Wilson (1865-1869); Charles B. Gilley (1869-1872); James L. Wilson (1872-1880); C. F. Chase (1880-1890); William T. Holbrook (1890-1894); Willis Dolliver (1894-1912); Joseph M. Gray (c.1921-1938); Elmer Reed (1938-1940); Eugene L. Coleman (?); Elmer Reed (1938-1940); Leverett Stanley (1940-1950)
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