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Squirrel Point Lighthouse Fun Facts
Location: Arrowsic Island
Closest City: Arrowsic, Maine
Latitude: 43.8166 Longitude: -69.8016
Body of Water: Kennebec River
Open to Public: Site: Yes
Tower: No
Station Established: 1898
Present Tower Activated: 1898
Status of Light: Operational
Tower Height: 25 ft.
Optic: 250mm,
Fifth Order Fresnel, 1902
National Register Reference #: 87002281
Listing Name: Squirrel Point Light Station
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The Squirrel Point lighthouse could be considered the fraternal twin of the light on Perkins Island. Both guide traffic on the Kennebec River and were first lit in 1898. Both were fitted with fifth order Fresnel lenses that were later replaced by 250mm optics. The Squirrel Point Fresnel lens is on display at the Portland Head lighthouse. Both towers are octagonal and wooden although the Squirrel Point lighthouse tower is slightly taller at 25 feet. The Squirrel Point light is attached to the site's sound signal building. The station also sports a 1.5 story, wooden, Victorian keeper's residence and frame barn (both 1898), a boathouse (1901), a brick oil house (1906), a garage. The boathouse, barn, and keeper's house have been updated with vinyl siding.
The station was automated in 1992. Four years later, the Coast Guard transferred ownership of the property to a private, non-profit organization called the Squirrel Point Light Associates, Inc. In 2002, this group put the property up for sale, causing quite a stir in the community. A lawsuit was filed by a group called the Citizens for Squirrel Point that was later joined by the Coast Guard to block the sale on the grounds that any sale of the property violated the terms of the 1996 agreement. In February 2005, the court affirmed that the Squirrel Point lighthouse property should revert to federal ownership.
As with Perkins Island, the Squirrel Point lighthouse site is open to the public. This station, however, is accessible by land. The tower continues as an aid to navigation and is closed. The Maine Maritime Museum in Bath offers boat tours of all the Kennebec River lighthouses, including Squirrel Point. The site can also be viewed from Rt. 209 between Phippsburg and Bath across the river from Arrowsic Island.
Lighthouse Accessibility
- This site (excluding the tower) is open to the public.
- The lighthouse can be viewed from several local boat tours
and can be seen across the shore from Rt. 209.
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