Saddleback Ledge Lighthouse, Vinalhaven Maine

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Date added: January 16, 2025
West and north elevations (1960)

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Established in 1839 on a precarious rock outcropping, Saddleback Ledge Light Station marks an eastward approach to Penobscot Bay.

Saddleback Ledge Light was the second such complex built to guide maritime traffic into and out of Penobscot Bay. Eventually, it was one of six principal navigational aids built along this important waterway. However, it was the only one of these six to have been classified as a secondary sea-coast light. The station was automated in 1954.

The tower at Saddleback Ledge was designed by Alexander Parris (1780-1852) and is similar in its overall form to the tower he designed two years earlier at Mount Desert Light Station. Saddleback clearly shows a proficiency in the use of granite as a material for construction, a characteristic for which the architect was well known. It is one of five known extant Parris-designed towers or keeper's dwellings in Maine. A sixth, the tower at Whitehead Light Station, is also attributed to him.

Site Description

Standing resolutely on a bold rock outcropping the Saddleback Ledge Light Station consists only of a conical granite tower. This structure dates to 1839 when the station was established. It was connected to a one-story rectangular frame building whose basement served as a boathouse. This building was a later addition to the complex although the date of construction has not been ascertained. The tower itself contains the keeper's quarters, kitchen and water cistern. The broad base of the tower quickly tapers to a projecting granite cap that supports the iron walkway and railing. Vertical rows of three small openings punctuate the tower's east and west faces. A door and one window are located in the north side. The ten sided lantern is covered by a polygonal roof and spherical ventilator. The center of the lantern is located thirty-six feet above the base of the structure. Both the lantern and deck were put here in 1883 in replacement of the original features.

Documentary photographs show that the station also had a landing derrick and a pyramidal bell house elevated above the rock on a skeletal tower.

Saddleback Ledge Lighthouse, Vinalhaven Maine View from east (1987)
View from east (1987)

Saddleback Ledge Lighthouse, Vinalhaven Maine North and east elevations (1960)
North and east elevations (1960)

Saddleback Ledge Lighthouse, Vinalhaven Maine West and north elevations (1960)
West and north elevations (1960)

Saddleback Ledge Lighthouse, Vinalhaven Maine General view (1960)
General view (1960)

Saddleback Ledge Lighthouse, Vinalhaven Maine Elevation (1960)
Elevation (1960)