Squirrel Point Light Station, Phippsburg Maine
- Categories:
- Maine
- Lighthouse
The Squirrel Point Light Station is located on Arrowsic Island and the east bank of the Kennebec River. It was one of four river light stations constructed in 1898 as part of an integral system of navigational aids.
Federal recognition of the need for a system of navigational aids along the important Kennebec River waterway was expressed in the 1892 edition of the Annual Report of the Light-House Board. The Board proposed to establish four light stations including this one at Squirrel Point. In 1895 Congress authorized a $17,000 appropriation for this project, and the station was put into service three years later. The station was automated in 1982.
Site Description
Squirrel Point is an intact complex of five detached buildings. Wooden walkways link the keeper's house to two of these units.
The light tower at Squirrel Point is an octagonal wooden frame constructed in 1898 and covered in wood shingles. It is ringed by a narrow bracketed gallery (built in 1899) with a simple iron rail. The lantern houses a modern beacon, and a ventilator crowns the iron roof. Projecting from the west side is the 1902 gable roofed bell house whose basement is sheathed in wood shingles. A door located in the north side and a single six-over-six window punctuates the south wall.
A walkway and intervening modern deck connect the tower to the 1898 two-story keeper's house. This rather simply detailed dwelling is sheathed in replacement vinyl siding and capped by a cross-gable roof. It has enclosed porches on both the north and south elevations and a brick flue rising through the roof.
Adjacent to the house is a rectangular gable-roofed barn covered in vinyl siding. It has a door on its west wall and two windows in the south gable end. The barn was erected in 1898.
Standing to the north of the house is the 1901 frame boathouse complete with boat slip. The boathouse has a single six-over-six window on its south wall and is sheathed in vinyl siding.
Constructed in 1906 the oil house is a diminutive gable-roofed brick building similar to many others built in Maine at this time. It has a door and narrow vents in its north gable end.
Light tower (1986)
Keeper's House and barn (1986)
Boathouse (1986)
East Sides of Shed, Lighthouse, Keeper'S House and Boat House (1989)
Lighthouse and Oil House, North Sides (1989)
Lighthouse, North Sides (1989)
Lighthouse, South and East Sides (1989)
Lighthouse, First Floor and Stairs, Looking South from Entrance (1989)
Southwest Side of Boathouse, West and South Sides of Keeper'S House and Shed, with Railing of Walkway to Lighthouse in Foreground (1989)
View Southwest, East and North Sides of Shed and Keeper'S House (1989)
Oil House, North Front and West Side (1989)
Boathouse, Northeast and Northwest Sides, with Top of Lighthouse Tower in Distance (1989)
