We arrived at the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse at 4:30 pm. Since this was so close to closing time, the woman at the entrance gate didn't charge us to get in. Fortunately we had just enough time to climb the lighthouse and then run quickly through the museum.
Climbing the tower...
You are here.
A Fresnel (pronounced Freh-nel) lens is a series of prisms that bend and then focus rays of light into a concentrated beam before emitting it from the mid-section of the lens. Because of its efficiency, the 1,000 watt bulb in the lighthouse's 4th Order lens can generate a beam of light visible for nearly 14 miles on a clear night. The lens was installed in 1856.
A guide led a group of four of us up.
The climb
The Pemaquid Point Lighthouse first went into service in 1827. After a mere 8 years, a replacement tower was required due to construction mistakes. In 1857, a fourth-order Fresnel lens was installed. In 1934, it was one of the first in Maine to convert to automatic acetylene gas operation.
(left) The bell house
Navigational map
Heading down ... For fresh air
The brick bell house was built in 1897 to contain two Shipman fog-signal steam engines which operated the fog bell. These were replaced two years later by a weight-powered Stevens Striking Machine and a wooden tower (to accommodate the weights which activated the striker).
How the Stevens striking mechanism works using weights in the bell tower
The museum
The old Baker Island Fresnel lens (from one of the lighthouses we saw on our scenic flight) now rests here. Each twilight the keeper would mount the forty-three spiraling, wrought-iron stairs steps to activate the light and return in the morning to extinguish it.
Old buoy lantern .... Weight actuated lens drive mechanism used to rotate at manned lights
(left) This 28-pound lobster was caught in the 1960s. It is estimated to be between 75 - 80 years old.
How lobster traps work
What the different buoy colors and shapes mean
Jones & Hitchcock, Troy N.Y., 1857
The oil house was built in 1896 to hold the fuel for the lighthouse lamps.
