Matinicus Rock Lighthouse, Matinicus Island Maine
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- Maine
- Lighthouse

Occupying a lonely island off the south end of Matinicus Island, the Matinicus Rock Light Station was established in 1827 and substantially rebuilt in 1847 and 1857. Originally classified as a primary seacoast light (a designation changed to secondary seacoast light by 1886), this station is of particular importance as a guide along the coastal shipping lanes off the southern entrance to Penobscot Bay.
Matinicus Rock Light Station was the fourteenth such complex established along the Maine coast. At the time of initial construction, it was the most distant light from the mainland and the first one to employ a pair of towers. These were located at the ends of the original rectangular rubble stone keeper's house with wooden towers. The 1847 rebuilding resulted in the construction of the existing granite dwelling and twin towers again located at each end of the house. Ten years later new towers were designed and placed 180 feet apart. The importance of the station as well as the inclement weather is further demonstrated by the fact that a steam fog signal was established here in 1869 making it one of the few such devices put into service in Maine at this early date. After the 1857 reconstruction, the complex at Matinicus was continually enlarged and transformed through the addition and removal of a host of ancillary buildings such as dwellings, rain sheds and cisterns. Beginning in the 1950s, however, many of these buildings and structures have been pulled down as new aids to navigation have made these components obsolete. In 1983 the station was automated.
Site Description
Matinicus Rock Light Station consists of a widely separated pair of cylindrical granite towers, only one of which remains active. A rectangular frame and granite keeper's house is connected to the functioning light tower. Extant ancillary structures include a frame shed and boathouse.
Rising to a height of forty-one feet from its base to the middle of the lantern, the southmost of the two towers is an ashlar granite structure whose shaft is capped by a narrow circular walkway. It was built in 1857. Framed by an iron railing, this walkway is surmounted by a short round brick stage punctuated by a row of bulls-eye windows. The twelve-sided lantern, which is glazed from its base to the polygonal roof, is surmounted by a spherical ventilator. A winding iron stair extends from the base of the tower to the brick stage. A short, narrow brick workroom connects the tower to the keeper's house.
The dwelling rests on a tall basement and features semi-circular tapered shafts at each end that are the surviving bases upon which earlier towers were built. There is a central door flanked by windows on the building's front, west elevation, and three symmetrically placed windows across the rear. Frame, shed-roofed dormers, each of which contains three windows, are additions to the original configuration of the dwelling. The granite section of this building is the only remaining feature from the 1847 remodeling of the station that was designed by Alexander Parris (1780-1852).
Standing 180 feet to the north of the active tower is the granite base of the second tower, also erected in 1857. Similar in design to its counterpart but originally taller, this structure has lost its lantern room, workroom, and frame board-and-batten assistant keeper's house. Documentary photographs show that a long covered passageway originally linked this tower to the main granite dwelling.
The small gable-roofed shed is located to the east of the inactive light tower. It is sheathed in wood shingles.
Standing to the northwest of the inactive tower is the 20' X 31' frame boathouse erected in 1890. Covered in wood shingles, this building has windows on both side elevations, a narrow gable roofed shed at the rear and boat slips leading from the large front opening.

Aerial view from southwest (1987)

Aerial view from northeast (1987)

Light Tower/keeper'S House and Abandoned Light Tower South Southeast and East Northeast Sides (1992)

Abandoned Light Tower and Keeper'S House/light Tower North Northwest and West Southwest Sides (1992)

Keeper'S House/light Tower North Northwest and West Southwest Sides (1992)

Keeper'S House/light Tower West Southwest and South Southeast Sides (1992)

Boathouse and Abandoned Tower West Southwest and South Southeast Sides (1992)

Abandoned Light Tower, Stairs, Looking North Northwest from Entrance (1992)
