Mount Desert Light

Mount Desert Light

The 1847 (current) tower with the 1892 keeper's house.
Location	South of Mount Desert Island, Maine
Year first constructed	1830
Year first lit	1847 (current tower)
Automated	1977
Foundation	Surface rock
Construction	Granite blocks
Tower shape	Conical Tower
Markings / pattern	Natural granite, black lantern
Focal height	75 ft (23 m)
Original lens	3rd order Fresnel Lens
Current lens	VRB-25
Range	20 nmi (37 km; 23 mi)
Characteristic	Fl W 15s
Fog signal	HORN: 2 every 30s operates continuously
ARLHS number	USA-516
USCG number	1–5 (the first lighthouse in the Light List) [1] [2] [3]
Mount Desert Light Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Coordinates:	43°58′7.01″N 68°7′42.012″W / 43.9686139°N 68.12833667°W / 43.9686139; -68.12833667Coordinates: 43°58′7.01″N 68°7′42.012″W / 43.9686139°N 68.12833667°W / 43.9686139; -68.12833667
Built:	1847
Architect:	Alexander Parris; US Army Corps of Engineers
Governing body:	U.S. Coast Guard
MPS:	Light Stations of Maine MPS
NRHP Reference#:	88000155[4]
Added to NRHP:	March 14, 1988

Mount Desert Light is a lighthouse on Mount Desert Rock, a small island about 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi) south of Mount Desert Island, and is part of the US state of Maine. The lighthouse was first established in 1830.

History^[1][3]

• 1847 Present structure built, designed by Alexander Parris
• 1858 Bell tower, bell, new lantern, and 3rd order Fresnel lens installed
• 1889 Fog bell replaced by a steam whistle
• 1892 Current keeper's house built
• 1931 Electrified with two generators
• 1977 Automated
• At about the same time the Fresnel lens was replaced by an aero-beacon and the lantern was removed.
• 1985 Replica lantern installed
• About ten years later, the aero-beacon was replaced with a VRB-25 lighthouse system.
• 1998 Transferred to the College of the Atlantic as part of the Maine Lights program. It is used as an ecology research station, primarily known for work on finback and humpback whales.

The station is both farther offshore and more exposed than any other lighthouse on the east coast. It sustained relatively minor damage in Hurricane Daisy (1962) and Hurricane Bill (2009).

Mount Desert Light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Mount Desert Light Station on March 14, 1988, reference number 88000155.^[4]

Keepers^[1]

• Esais Preble (1833–1835) 
• William Preble (assistant, 1833–1835)
• Benjamin Ward Jr. (1841–?)
• Jacob L. Richardson (1848–1850)
• David King (1850–1853)
• Rufus King (1853–1859) 
• William H. Ward (assistant, 1855–1858) 
• John Dolliver Jr. (assistant, 1858–1859)
• George Booth (1859–1860) 
• B. Thurber (assistant, 1859–1864)
• Joseph Hopkins (1860–1861)
• William E. Holden (1861–1864)
• Seth H. Higgins (assistant 1864–1865, principal keeper 1865–1867) 
• David Rollins (assistant, 1865–1867) 
• Dan Ladd (assistant, 1865)
• J. A. Williken (1867–1868) 
• William Gilley (assistant, 1867)
• Dan B. Eaton (assistant, 1867–1871)
• Otis W. Kent (1868–1872) 
• Perry W. Richardson (assistant, 1868–1870 and 1871–1872) 
• Amos B. Newman (assistant, 1870–1872, principal keeper 1872–1881) 
• Mark W. Hodgson (assistant, 1872–1882) 
• William P. Sawyer (second assistant 1872–1878)
• James A. Morris (assistant, 1874–1876)
• Frank Collins (assistant, 1876–1877)
• Howard P. Robbins (second assistant 1878–1882)
• James A. Morris (1881–1882)
• Thomas R. Milan (1882–1902) 
• William Stanley (assistant 1882–1883)
• Benjamin Maddox (assistant, 1883–1888)
• Howard M. Gilley (second assistant 1883–1887)
• Lewis F. Sawyer (second assistant 1887–1888, first assistant 1888–1889)
• Willis Dolliver (second assistant 1887–1890, first assistant 1890–1891)
• William J, Newman (second assistant 1890, first assistant 1890)
• Thomas R. Savage (second assistant 1891–1892)
• Orrin L. Milan (second assistant 1892–1895, first assistant 1895–1897)
• Charles Thurston (second assistant 1895–1897, first assistant (1897–1899)
• Fred M. Robbins (second assistant 1898–1899, first assistant 1899–1902, principal keeper (1902–1911) 
• Joseph M. Gray (assistant, c. 1900)
• Bert Richard (assistant, c. 1901)
• Herbert P. Richardson (second assistant c. 1902)
• Charles H. Newman (assistant, c. 1902–1908)
• William H. C. Dodge (second assistant c. 1902–1908)
• Vinal O. Beal (second assistant 1909–1910, first assistant 1910–1911, principal keeper 1911–1918) 
• W. P. Kent (assistant, 1909–1910)
• Wilbert F. Lurney (second assistant 1910, first assistant 1911-unknown)
• Charles A. Radley (second assistant 1911-unknown);
• Arthur Edward Ginn (c. 1918-early 1920s)
• George York (1928–1936)
• Robert G. Wass (c. 1930s) 
• Everett Quinn (assistant c. 1935)
• H. C. Day (assistant c. 1935).
• Ralph Demons (c. 1950)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maine". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-08-06. http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHME.asp. 
2. ^ (PDF) Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2009. p. 1. http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lightLists/LightList%20V1.pdf. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Rowlett, Russ (2009-09-30). "Lighthouses of the United States: Eastern Maine". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/me.htm. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.