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Whitlocks Mill Lighthouse Fun Facts
Closest City: Calais, Maine
Body of Water: St. Croix River
Open to Public: No
Year Established: 1892
Present Tower Activated: 1910
Status of Light: Operational
Location: - St. Croix River, South Bank
- 3 miles east of Calais on U.S. 1
Latitude: 45.1625 Longitude: -67.2275
Tower Height: 25 ft.
Optic: 250 mm, 1969
Fourth Order Fresnel, 1906
National Register Reference #: 87002276
Listing Name: Whitlock's Mill Light Station
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In 1892, a local mill owner was asked by the Coast Guard to tend to a lantern at this point along the St. Croix River to help guide the heavy traffic of the time. Mr. Whitlock maintained the red light, mounted on a post, and the lantern remained in service for roughly 17 years.
In 1909, the last light to be built in Maine, the Whitlocks Mill lighthouse, replaced the lantern. The cylindrical brick tower is accompanied by a Dutch colonial keeper's cottage (1909), an oil house (1910), a wooden bell tower (1910), and a fuel storage building. Originally equipped with a fourth order Fresnel (currently on display at the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland), the light was automated in 1969 and outfitted with a 250mm optic.
The light is still in service guiding river traffic bound for Calais and other commercial points along the St. Croix River, which defines the border between the U.S. and Canada at this point.
The light itself is owned by the St. Croix Historical Society. The remaining buildings are privately owned.
For more on Whitlock's Mill Light, Click Here!!
Lighthouse Access
- The light is not open to the public and is best seen by boat.
- The light can be viewed via an access right of way on
the keeper's property.
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