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Wood Island Lighthouse Fun Facts
Location: East Wood Island / Saco River Mouth
Closest City: Biddeford Pool, Maine
Latitude: 43.4567 Longitude: -70.3292
Body of Water: Atlantic Ocean
Open to Public: Site: Yes
Tower: No
Station Established: 1808
Present Tower Activated: 1858
Status of Light: Operational
Tower Height: 47 ft.
Optic: VRB-25, 1972
Fourth Order Fresnel, 1858
National Register Reference #: 87002274
Listing Name: Wood Island Light Station
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The Wood Island lighthouse is located at the mouth of the Saco River at the eastern entrace to Wood Island Harbor. The 47 foot, conical, granite block tower was constructed in 1808, making it Maine's second oldest lighthouse after Portland Head. A two-story, wooden, Dutch-colonial keeper's residence was added
to the site in 1857 and, in 1858, the tower was substantially upgraded including the addition of a fouth order Fresnel lens. The site also hosts a fog bell (1872), a stone oil house (1903), a storage building, and a wooden walkway.
This history of this site is quite colorful including numerous shipwrecks and a murder. At one point, a French bootlegger set up operations on the west end of the island, selling his wares to the crews from boats fishing in the area. One evening, a group of crewmen had spent a significant amount of money on the Frenchman's liquor and, in a drunken stupor, decided to burn down his operation. The flames grew and spread until they finally reached the fermentation building, causing a fantastic explosion that could be seen at twenty miles.
The Wood Island lighthouse bell tower was destroyed by a storm in the 1960s. The fog bell, however, was saved and can be seen at Vine's Landing in Biddeford Pool. The lantern was removed from the tower in 1976 when the fourth order Fresnel was replaced in 1972 by a VRB-25 aerobeacon (see picture at right). In 1986, the Wood Island lighthouse was one of the last to be automated and the lantern was returned to the tower.
The site was convered to solar power in 2001 and leased to the American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) in 2003. ALF volunteers cleaned up the site including the restoration of electrical service. Additional updates are planned. Wood Island is mostly owned by the Maine Audubon Society and serves as a wildlife sanctuary. The island is accessible only by boat but the Wood Island lighthouse site (sans the tower) is open to the public. Guided tours are offered in the summer by ALF volunteers. The station is owned by the U.S. Coast Guard but is managed by the Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse.
Lighthouse Accessibility
- This site is open to the public but is accessible only by boat.
- The lighthouse can be viewed from several local boat tours
and can be seen from shore via the Biddeford Pool Trail.
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