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Available Framed or Unframed - Click for Details |
Location: Off Cape Neddick
Nearest Town: York Beach, Maine
Latitude: 43.165079 Longitude: -70.5913
Body of Water: York Harbor
Open to Public: Yes
Station Established: 1879
Present Tower Activated: 1879
Status of Light: Operational
Tower Height: 41 ft.
Optic: Fourth Order Fresnel, 1928
Fourth Order Fresnel, 1857
National Register Reference #: 85000844
Listing Name: Cape Neddick Light Station
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Although the Nubble lighthouse at Cape Neddick was not built until 1879, the need for an aid to marine navigation was first identified in 1837 in an inspector's report.
Five years later, the ship Isidore set sail from Kennebunkport Harbor one morning and shortly became engulfed in a nasty snowstorm. The next morning, news reached the harbor that wreckage from a large vessel had been found to the south along the shore. The Isidore apparently was driven into the rocks off Bald Head Cliff to the north of Cape Neddick.
It wasn't until ten years after the Isidore wreck that Congress appropriated funds for a lighthouse on Cape Neddick at the mouth of the York River. Finally, in 1879, the Lighthouse Service ordered construction of the Cape Neddick Light Station.
The station is based on a small rocky island, or "nubble", off Cape Neddick on York Beach. The 41 foot, conical, cast iron tower is connected to the original 2 story, Victorian-style, wood frame keeper's residence via a covered walkway. The
inside of the tower is lined with brick. The site sits well above sea level at a height of focal plane of 88 feet and, on clear days, provides a view of the Boon Island lighthouse over six miles away. The original fourth order Fresnel lens was destroyed in an explosion in 1928 and replaced by another fourth order lens dating from 1891.
A fog signal was placed at the site two years before the lighthouse. The 1,200 pound bell served until 1961 when it was replaced by a much smaller signal. The original bell is on display at York Beach Park. The station also sports a red brick oil house (1902), storage building, and a boathouse (1978). A previous sound signal building (see picture at top of page) was torn down.
The Coast Guard at one point painted the oil house white. Public outcry at the defacing of the brick building caused the Coast Guard to restore the structure to its original red. At low tide, rocks emerge from the surf,
creating a walkable path from the mainland out to the nubble. Although this was a method commonly used by keepers of the Nubble lighthouse, local officials determined the activity to be unsafe and ordered it be halted.
The light was automated in 1987. Ownership of the site was transferred to the Town of York in 1997 with access rights to the tower retained by the Coast Guard as the tower's flashing red signal is still an active aid to navigation. The coastal land nearest the island, known as Nubble Point, was given to York Beach Village by its owner, Colonel William Sohier, and is presently Sohier Park.
The site is open to the public (207-363-1040) and, while accessible only by boat, can be easily seen in all its magnificence from Sohier Park. The Friends of Nubble Light actively works to preserve the station.
Lighthouse Accessibility
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The site (excluding the tower) is open to the public (207-363-1040). |
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Great views of the lighthouse and surrounding buildings can be had from Sohier Park in York Beach.
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