This 200 Year Old Lighthouse in Maine was Built in 1822

Libby Island Light Station, Machiasport Maine

Date added: November 26, 2024

Categories:
Maine
Lighthouse

Fog Signal House and Light Tower Southeast and Northeast Sides of Signal House, East and North Sides of Tower (1991)

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Libby Island Light Station was ordered built by President James Monroe in 1822 and has never been rebuilt. According to old journals at the station there were thirty-five wrecks from 1856 to 1902, and out of this number only fifteen lives were lost owing to the efficient work and valor of the light keepers at the station.

Among the ships lost to the sea near the Libby Island Station were the Schooner Caledonia of Windsor, Nova Scotia. The captain and crew were swept overboard by the breakers but two passengers were rescued by the volunteer lifesaving crew from Starboard in 1878. The Bark Fame drifted ashore on the point in a heavy gale; twelve of a crew of fifteen were rescued by the heroic keepers, who waded into the surf and threw a rope to the crew, then rigged a boatswain chair and got all but three ashore safely. In 1892 the ship Princeport was wrecked on the bar between the two islands. After a perilous trip from the light, the keepers reached the small piece of the bow, all that remained of the ship, and rescued the crew.

The Schooner F.C. Lockhart with all sails set, making a beautiful picture, struck the point where she lodged between a natural cradle of rocks where she had to be left until the sea claimed her.

The Barkentine John N. Myers met disaster on the southwest end of East Libby Island in 1925. The crew managed to make a small lonely island from which they were taken off by the Coast Guard the next morning. The last square rigger to go ashore at Libby Island was the Barkentine Africa in 1902.

In a vain effort to save the ship both anchors, weighing over 5000 pounds, were thrown overboard by the crew, which subsequently escaped to the Island by small boat. These anchors, the only remnants of a once proud ship exist today in an excellent state of preservation.

Site Description

Libby Island Light Station is located on the island's southwestern part and marks the entrance to Machias Bay. The tower is built of granite, in a conical design, white in color, 42' high; built in 1819, basically unaltered, 91' above sea level. The tower's base diameter is 16' and at the parapet is 12", Dwelling built in 1824, 34' x 36' 1 1/2 story, wood frame, white in color, destroyed prior to 1949.

Rainshed built in 1856, 32' x 22', 1 story, wood frame.

Building built in 1856, 11' x 9', 1 story, masonry.

Boathouse built in 1856, 20' x 40', 1 1/2 story, wood frame.

Fog signal building built in 1856, 32' x 32', 1 story, masonry.

Launch way built in 1941, 24' long timber.

The following information was extracted from the photographs and blueprint files of the Civil Engineering Branch, Engineering Division, First Coast Guard District, Boston, Massachusetts.

A panoramic photograph of the station taken in 1892 shows from North to South; a large barn, a house with an ell, a long shed, the light tower (unpainted) and the Fog Signal House. The house also shows on an original plan of the station, which unfortunately is undated.

By 1909, plans had been drafted to enlarge this house; later, photographs show the house was in fact altered to these plans. Modifications to the original dwelling were extensive; what had been a 34' x 26" one-and-one-half story duplex house was built over to form a 34 x 36 foot two-and-one-half story duplex. The enlarged house was destroyed prior to 1949, thus, eliminating all traces of the original house. The large barn was razed at about the same time.

Sometime before 1922, most probably in 1917, a second house was constructed, abutting the southerly end of the Rain Shed. In 1948, or 1949, this house was substantially altered by raising the roof and adding two upstairs bedrooms. It is this dwelling that exists today. The long shed mentioned above was a rain shed for water catchment, it survived until 1944.

Finally, of the light tower and Engine House: By 1944, the tower had been painted white and fitted with a new, enlarged entryway; and the Fog Signal House had been altered by removing the tall chimney used with the steam-operated fog signal. The fog signal is a dual EIG-300/02 with a range of five miles. The fourth order fixed lens has been replaced with a type DCB-224 uncorrected candlepower light of 32,000 KW with an operational range of 25 miles.