Whitlocks Mill Light

Whitlocks Mill Light

Undated photograph of Whitlocks Mill Light Light (USCG)
Location south shore of St. Croix River east of Calais, Maine
Coordinates 45°9′45.370″N 67°13′38.566″W / 45.16260278°N 67.22737944°W / 45.16260278; -67.22737944Coordinates: 45°9′45.370″N 67°13′38.566″W / 45.16260278°N 67.22737944°W / 45.16260278; -67.22737944
Year first constructed 1892
Year first lit 1909 (current tower)
Automated 1969
Foundation Dressed stone/timber
Construction Brick, ceramic tile lining
Tower shape Cylindrical
Markings / pattern White w/black lantern
Height 25 feet (7.6 m)
Focal height 32 feet (9.8 m)
Original lens 4th order Fresnel lens
Current lens VLB-44 (2009)
Characteristic Iso G 6s
Fog signal none
Admiralty number H4138
ARLHS number USA-890
USCG number

1-985[1][2][3]

Whitlocks Mill Light Station
Nearest city Calais, Maine
Area 1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built 1910
Architect US Army Corps of Engineers
MPS Light Stations of Maine MPS
NRHP Reference # 87002276[4]
Added to NRHP January 21, 1988

The Whitlocks Mill Light is a lighthouse on the south bank of the St. Croix River in Calais, Maine. It is the northernmost lighthouse in the state of Maine,[5] and was the last light to be built in the state.[6]

Description

The light station includes a tower, keeper's house, equipment shed, oil house, and bell house. The keeper's house, now privately owned, is an L-shaped two story gambrel roof oriented to face the river. The tower is a circular brick structure, topped by an lantern house surrounded by an iron railing. The bell house is distinctive as one of the few surviving period pyramidal bell houses. The oil house is a small brick gable-roofed structure, typical of oil houses at other light stations.[7]

History

This light marks a bend in the river, and was established as a light station in 1892. The original light was a lantern hung in the tree by the local miller after whom the station was named. In 1910 the present complex was built, with a fourth order Fresnel lens mounted in the lantern house.[7]

In 1969 the light was automated, and the Fresnel lens was replaced with a standard 9.8 inches (250 mm) optic. The old lens was later put on display at the Shore Village Museum in Rockland (now part of the Maine Lighthouse Museum).[8] In 2009, the 250mm optic was replaced with an LED VLB-44.[3] In 1970, the station was leased to the Washington County Vocational Technical Institute;[5] eventually the keeper's house and grounds passed into private hands, but the Coast Guard retained ownership of the light tower itself.

In 1999 the tower was deeded to the St. Croix Historical Society as part of the Maine Lighthouse Program, a precursor to the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. The light was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Whitlocks Mill Light Station on January 21, 1988, reference number 87002276.

1916 postcard 

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maine". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
  2. ↑ Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2015. p. 9.
  3. 1 2 Rowlett, Russ (2009-12-07). "Lighthouses of the United States: Eastern Maine". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  4. ↑ National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  5. 1 2 "Whitlocks Mill Light". New England Lighthouses: A Virtual Guide. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
  6. ↑ "Whitlock's Mill Lighthouse". St. Croix Historical Society. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
  7. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for Whitlocks Mill Light" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  8. ↑ "Shore Village Museum". Retrieved 2008-02-05.
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