Lubec Channel Lighthouse, Lubec Maine
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- Maine
- Lighthouse
Erected in 1890, the Lubec Channel Light Station occupies a strategic navigational location in this broad but shallow waterway. It is one of three surviving "spark plug" lights in Maine.
An effort to establish a light station in the Lubec Channel was made following the completion of a dredging project. The 1883 Annual Report of the Light-House Board mentions the need for a light to make the channel of value to commerce at night. Throughout this period the river ports at Calais, Eastport and Lubec were thriving commercial centers much of whose livelihood was dependent upon navigation on the Saint Croix River and Lubec Channel. By 1888 Congress had appropriated a total of $52,000 for construction of the station. It was put into service on December 31st, 1890, and automated in 1939.
Site Description
One of the three extant late nineteenth-century "spark plug" lights, the 1890 Lubec Channel Light Station is composed of a wide round base clad in cast iron that supports a tapered three-stage tower. The base, which is of concrete construction embedded directly into the river channel, rises to a wide deck formerly covered by a roof. The deck is supported by a flared concave neck at the top of the tower base and is reached by attached iron ladders. Its iron railing has been removed. A door opens off of the deck into the interior quarters, and a trio of two-over-two double-hung sash windows punctuate the first level. A second pair of openings provides light to the second level and a row of bullseye windows are positioned below the bracketed walkway of the short third stage. This walkway is framed by a perimeter railing. The third stage of the tower is punctuated by a door and one small window. An octagonal lantern with a spherical ventilator crowns the structure. A solar panel has been added to the gallery since the station's automation.
