Portland Headlight
- Address: Shore Rd
- Vicinity: Portland Head
| Y/M/D | Person | Association | Description | Composition | Food | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y/M/D | Person | Association | Description | Composition | Food | Event |
| 1784/00/00 | Local merchants petition the General Court of Massachusetts (Maine was part of MA until 1820) for a lighthouse at Portland Head. Portland is the sixth-largest port in the country and has substantial trade with the Caribbean. | |||||
| 1787/00/00 | After two people die in a 1787 shipwreck at Bangs (now Cushing) Island, the Commonwealth of MA provides $750 for a lighthouse. Local masons, Jonathan Bryant and John Nichols, begin building a 58 foot structure of rubblestone from Cape Elizabeth. | |||||
| 1789/08/07 | George Washington | US President | President George Washington signs the Lighthouses Act creating the Lighthouse Establishment as an administrative unit of the Federal Government. | Rise of the Lighthouse | ||
| 1790/00/00 | US Lighthouse Establishment | Owner | Jonathan Bryant redesigns Portland Head Light tower to be 72 feet in height. Under funded, construction ceases until Congress provides an additional $1,500 in 1790. | |||
| 1791/01/10 | Marquis de Lafayette | Dignitary | Dedicated by Marquis de Lafayette, Portland Head Light's 16 whale oil lamps are illuminated. | |||
| 1842/00/00 | I W P Lewis | Engineer | Civil engineer I W P Lewis reports that the tower at Portland Head is built of poor-quality mortar, the woodwork is rotting and the house is cracked and leaky. Lewis recommends fewer, but better aligned lamps in the lantern room. | |||
| 1855/00/00 | The Portland Headlight tower is lined with brick, a cast iron staircase is erected, and a fourth-order Fresnel lens with a kerosene lamp is installed. | |||||
| 1865/00/00 | After the wreck of the BOHEMIAN, the fourth-order lens in the Portland Head Light is replaced with a second-order Fresnel lens. |
| Particulars for Portland Headlight: | |
|---|---|
| Area of Significance | Architecture |
| Criteria | Architecture-Engineering |
| Sight Category | Building |
| Historic Use | Coast Guard facility |
| Area of Significance | Commerce |
| Area of Significance | Communications |
| Owner | Federal |
| Criteria | Historic Event |
| Historic Use | Secondary structure |
| Historic Use | Single dwelling |
| Area of Significance | Transportation |
| Historic Use | Water-related |
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