Grindle Point Light Station, Islesboro Maine

Date added: September 14, 2024

Categories:
Maine
Lighthouse

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Located at the entrance to Gilkey's Harbor and the Village of Islesboro, Grindle Point Light Station has, for more than one hundred years, been the preeminent landmark on this island of about 500 year-round inhabitants. First established in 1850 and rebuilt in 1875, the lighthouse is one of only three similarly shaped structures which still survive along the coast of Maine.

The light station at Grindle Point was built at a time of increased commercial traffic in Gilkey's Harbor. In 1847, for example, Islesboro was first included on a steamboat line between it and the mainland. Settlement of Islesboro commenced in 1769, and by 1860 its population reached 1,276 persons, its highest recorded figure. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the island became a popular summer resort area witnessed by the construction of sprawling hotels and cottages.

On March 3^rd, 1849, the United States Navy appropriated $3,500 to build a lighthouse at Islesboro. A three-acre tract of land was acquired from Francis Grindle for $105, hence the name Grindle Point Light. The twenty-eight-foot high tower and first keeper's house, built of brick, were completed in the summer of 1850. Rufus Dunning was appointed keeper of the Light on August 20^th, 1850. He was replaced by Francis Grindle on April 3^rd, 1853.

The 1875 annual report of the Lighthouse Board stated that the Grindle Point Lighthouse was in such condition:

that it was determined advisable to re-build instead of repairing it. A one-and-one-half story building for the keeper's dwelling and a square brick tower for the light was therefore erected; the walls of the original house torn down to near the surface of the ground and the roof lowered. The original building thus changed will be used as a covered way between the new dwelling and the tower and for the storage of provisions, fuel, oil, and supplies of various kinds.

An appropriation for the rebuilding was made on June 23^rd, 1874. A Boston contractor, who is as yet unidentified, performed the work, and a machine shop in Portland refurbished the replacement lens.

Few changes were made to the light station after it was rebuilt in 1874-75. At some point, the boathouse was moved back five feet from the water and the board-and-batten siding added. In 1887 a brick cistern was built into the covered passage, and in 1896 a l,000 pound hand-struck bell was added to the site.

Initial plans to automate the light station were made in 1923, but objections by local residents stalled the move until 1934. A twenty-one foot tall steel tower was built that year to carry a flashing white light. The de-activated station was acquired in 1935 by the Town of Islesboro for use as a public park and to house the Islesboro, now Sailor's Memorial Museum. It retains this function.

Site Description

Facing southwest across West Penobscot Bay, the Grindle Point Light Station is a virtually intact example of a square-towered lighthouse complex. It consists of a relatively short tapered brick light tower connected by a covered, below-ground passage to the frame keeper's house. The tower is capped by a steel deck which extends beyond the walls. This deck is partially supported by a curved steel cornice, and it has a perimeter iron railing. At the center of the deck is the lantern. The lens was removed from the tower before the site was sold to the Town of Islesboro in 1935. Four windows illuminate the circular staircase located within the structure.

The low gable roof covered passage located between the light tower and the dwelling is built on the foundation from the original 1850 structure. It has a single dormer on both the west and east facades.

Oriented with its steeply pitched gable roof perpendicular to the connecting passage, the keeper's house is one-and-a-half stories in height and an irregular three bays wide. It is covered in clapboards. The house features two windows and a door on the front (east) elevation and two windows in the second story. This fenestration pattern, less one upper story window, is repeated on the gable end which faces Penobscot Bay.

Standing to the northwest of the house is a frame boathouse sheathed in board- and-batten siding. Farther to the north is a small brick building said to have been used to store flammable materials such as oil and kerosene. At present, an automated light, detached from the original building, functions as a navigational aid.