PORTLAND HEAD LIGHT, A Most Scenic Lighthouse
Written: Dec 06 '04 (Updated Oct 12 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easily photographed.
Cons: You can't climb the lighthouse and the museum closes in colder weather.
The Bottom Line: This is a place where you can take a half hour peek or spend the whole day picnicking, hiking and taking photos.
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| popsrocks's Full Review: Portland Head Light |
From the downtown Old Port section of Portland that is filled with fine restaurants, shops, local breweries, and dockside destinations, you can get a complete change of scenery by taking a ten minute ride to the Portland Head Light. This scenic lighthouse is just four miles away across a bridge in the town of Cape Elizabeth.
A Very Brief History
About ten years after the Revolutionary War local residents of what was then still part of Massachusetts petitioned for a lighthouse that was eventually commissioned by congress in 1791. George Washington appointed its first keeper.
The original lighthouse that used sixteen whale oil lamps for illumination has gone over a number of changes since then in both height and lenses used. The first lighthouse was 71 feet high. At a later date it was lowered. After a loss of immigrant passengers in a shipwreck in the 1980s there was insistence that the light be built higher again. This direction was followed and a new fresnel lens was also installed. The lighthouse now stands at eighty feet. In 1989 the lighthouse was fully automated. The light and foghorn are supervised and maintained by the US coast Guard while the grounds are taken care of by the Town of Elizabeth.
The Museum
Inside what was once the light keepers residence is the lighthouse museum. It is a fair size with memorabilia and a couple of the fresnel lenses. There is also one on display from a different lighthouse. It's a $2.00 charge to get in. If this is important to you, then be sure to check the museum hours and days open. It is open all summer but is closed during the week in the fall and finally closes completely at Christmas time and doesn't open again for weekends until spring. Even with the museum closed, this is definitely a must see destination for those who love this sort of place for its history and photographic opportunities.
Taking Photos
It is said that the Portland Head Light is the most photographed lighthouse in America. I can see why. It is one of the very few that can be observed from many different angles and from three sides on land. Some people even take boat tours out of Portland to get pictures from out at sea but there are many fine shots that can be taken from the shore. At eighty feet this isn't as high as many other lighthouses but the balance of height and colours of the white lighthouse with black trim and its red roofed attached and outbuildings, situated on the rocky Maine coast gives one of the best overall aesthetically pleasing pictures you could imagine.
Photos from afar can include some of the rugged Maine coast line. Some angles can also include another lighthouse in the not too distant background. There is an opportunity to get shots up very close too. This lighthouse offers more shots than any I have ever seen. Because of the different angles photographs in very early morning and at sunset can be stunning. The one downfall is that you cannot get any pictures from inside the lighthouse as it is not open for visitors at all.
Beautiful Even To A Poet
One plaque that is easy to find a short distance from the lighthouse describes the nearby flat topped stone as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's favorite spot to sit and enjoy the views of the Portland Light Head and the Maine shore. It is said that it was here that he was inspired to write his famous poem, "The Lighthouse". I was just going to cite a few lines from the poem but, after reading it, I found that to be an injustice. If you do decide to read the first five lines, you will be drawn to finish it. Here it is as taken from
http://www.love-poems.me.uk/longfellow_lighthouse.htm
The Lighthouse
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The rocky ledge runs far into the sea,
and on its outer point, some miles away,
the lighthouse lifts its massive masonry,
A pillar of fire by night, of cloud by day.
Even at this distance I can see the tides,
Upheaving, break unheard along its base,
A speechless wrath, that rises and subsides
in the white tip and tremor of the face.
And as the evening darkens, lo! how bright,
through the deep purple of the twilight air,
Beams forth the sudden radiance of its light,
with strange, unearhly splendor in the glare!
No one alone: from each projecting cape
And perilous reef along the ocean's verge,
Starts into life a dim, gigantic shape,
Holding its lantern o'er the restless surge.
Like the great giant Christopher it stands
Upon the brink of the tempestuous wave,
Wading far out among the rocks and sands,
The night o'er taken mariner to save.
And the great ships sail outward and return
Bending and bowing o'er the billowy swells,
And ever joyful, as they see it burn
They wave their silent welcome and farewells.
They come forth from the darkness, and their sails
Gleam for a moment only in the blaze,
And eager faces, as the light unveils
Gaze at the tower, and vanish while they gaze.
The mariner remembers when a child,
on his first voyage, he saw it fade and sink
And when returning from adventures wild,
He saw it rise again o'er ocean's brink.
Steadfast, serene, immovable, the same,
Year after year, through all the silent night
Burns on forevermore that quenchless flame,
Shines on that inextinguishable light!
It sees the ocean to its bosum clasp
The rocks and sea-sand with the kiss of peace:
It sees the wild winds lift it in their grasp,
And hold it up, and shake it like a fleece.
The startled waves leap over it; the storm
Smites it with all the scourges of the rain,
And steadily against its solid form
press the great shoulders of the hurricane.
The sea-bird wheeling round it, with the din
of wings and winds and solitary cries,
Blinded and maddened by the light within,
Dashes himself against the glare, and dies.
A new Prometheus, chained upon the rock,
Still grasping in his hand the fire of love,
it does not hear the cry, nor heed the shock,
but hails the mariner with words of love.
"Sail on!" it says: "sail on, ye stately ships!
And with your floating bridge the ocean span;
Be mine to guard this light from all eclipse.
Be yours to bring man neared unto man.
These last four lines are quoted on the plaque. I find it inspiring that this was the place that lifted Longfellow's spirit and talent to write such a tribute to this lighthouse and all lighthouses. He writes of them like they have an infinite soul destined to give safety to all who sail within their guiding beam of light.
More To See
As you get close to the southern side of the lighthouse you can't help but notice what at first looked like a huge graffiti marked boulder of white paint slapped onto the dark rocks.
Annie McGuire Shipwrecked here Christmas Eve 1886.
I never did find out who applied the paint to the stone or when it was done. From different things I have read, it seems the artwork has been there for many, many years. I did find out that a ship did wreck there within feet of the rocky shore and lighthouse. A plank was put out and all those who were on the ship walked to the safety of the shore. I'm sure that was a Christmas Eve story that was repeated many a time by all who were involved.
Gift Shop
A small building, that is separate from the main house and light, is a gift shop that offers the usual in Maine items and specializes in books, postcards, and information about lighthouses. This structure was converted to a shop from being a small garage. This, like the museum, does not keep regular late fall and early spring hours and is closed completely for the winter.
Cliff Trail
Adjacent to the Lighthouse is the "Cliff trail. This is a short trail along the coast that can be completed in less than half an hour of leisurely walking. It's a moderate hike that takes you to some fantastic spots for further picture taking. Even if you do nothing else, this is worth the time. There are benches along the way and they have those quarter binocular stations to check out the surrounding landscape and nautical craft.
Fort Williams Park
After driving into the complex where the lighthouse is I noticed signs stating that we were in Fort William Park. I believe that the lighthouse and park are run separately but there were no noticeable boundaries between the two. Parking is free no matter which lot you park in and it's open from sunrise to sunset. There is parking nearby the lighthouse. We were there in the fall. We had the place pretty much to ourselves but after talking to some people at the site, found out it is quite popular and busy during the summer. The fact is over a million visitors go there every year. The day we were there we saw just ten of them.
Fort Williams Park is a good enough reason to visit this area on its own. It was an active military base until the end of the 1900s but was an active military stratigic spot since the 1700s. There are signs of the old fort throughout the grounds. It now has picnicking, a beach, ruins of an old mansion,and historic sites to see within this almost one hundred acre park. There is one particular picnic area that overlooks the lighthouse. The cliff trail takes you right by it. It looks to be an incredible place to spend a summer afternoon. There must be cool breezes off the water then and the view is spectacular! The picnic grounds offer raised fire pits, and tables.
If you are in the Portland area and are any kind of photo buff, you can't miss this lighthouse and park. Though this isn't an Acadia National Park, it is good for four stars as being Americas most photographed lighthouse. Bring plenty of film.
Portland, Maine
Portland Museum of Art
Howard Johnson's Hotel, Portland
DiMillo's Floating Restaurant Good Portland Dining
Coastal Maine, One man's view
Bar Harbor, Maine
Acadia National Park
A Canadian side trip from Maine's Acadia National Park
The Rocktide Inn Boothbay Harbor
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Sep - Nov
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