Portland Breakwater Light, South Portland Maine

Date added: February 03, 2025

Categories:
Maine
Lighthouse

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This Greek Revival structure was first built in 1855 and rebuilt in 1875. The structure was abandoned in 1943 The rebuilding in 1875 did not alter the design or character of the structure.

The significance of Portland Breakwater Light is its unique style and construction. It represents the sea-going heritage of the State of Maine in the 18^th and 19^th centuries when it and its sister lighthouses along Maine's rocky coasts stood as symbols of commercial prosperity derived from shipping.

Built to communicate the location of Portland Breakwater to ships at sea, it also indicates the concern of 19th-century Americans to make an essentially functional structure aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Its Greek Revival style would have integrated well into the panorama of Portland in 1855.

Site Description

This structure is unique because of its construction and decoration. It is possible that Thomas Ustick Walter, who designed and erected the National Capitol's cast iron dome, might have had something to do with the structure; especially since its details, derived from the fourth-century B.C. Choragic Monument of Lysikrates in Athens, show an archeological bias consistent with Walter's academic tastes.

Erected in 1855, the structure is a circular tower 11'-8" in diameter of cast-iron plates fashioned as fluted columns with Corinthian capitals covering joints. The lighthouse is situated on a stone base at the end of the breakwater.

The walls are 6" thick and composed of 1" cast-iron plates bolted at the flanges. The remainder of the 6" thickness consists of 4" of brick filler, plastered inside. There is an airspace between the iron plate and brick. Cast-iron columns cover the bolted flanges of the plates. The lantern house is a cylindrical, cast-iron plate. There are ten fixed sheets of glass.

The windows consist of 12" round portholes in the tower wall with brass fittings. Some are fixed and some swing inward.

The lighthouse is visible from the Eastern Promenade in Portland.