New England
The Beauty of New England Lighthouses
As houses go, New England lighthouses are pretty plain — yet these sturdy sentinels have become must-sees for every visitor.
By Yankee Magazine|Apr 11 2019|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanThe Beauty of New England Lighthouses
Photo Credit : Eric Full
Photo Credit : Brenda Darroch
Photo Credit : Kevin Armstrong
Photo Credit : Roxie Zwicker
Photo Credit : Jeff Folger
Photo Credit : Luis Lebron
Photo Credit : Patrick Morrissey
Photo Credit : D. Lewis
Photo Credit : Denis Tangney
Photo Credit : Janice Drew
Photo Credit : Ken Packie
Photo Credit : Judith Secco
Photo Credit : Larry Tocci
Photo Credit : Jeff Folger
Photo Credit : Catherine Scott
Photo Credit : Mark Valle
Photo Credit : E. Carla Daigle (User Submitted)
Photo Credit : Jeff Folger
Photo Credit : Christine Ruggieri
Photo Credit : Libby Richardson
Photo Credit : Erin Gill
Photo Credit : David Bunkofske
Photo Credit : Christine Morton
Photo Credit : Christine Morton
Photo Credit : Christine Morton
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I truly love Light Houses, would really like to stay in a Light House for a Vacation!
These lighthouses are just magnificent. Are there any lighthouses on the West Coast?
So beautiful I am sending the lighthouses on to Janet and Bill!!!
We love lighthouses especially Nubble at Yotk Beach Marie & Leon Gennett Plattsburgh,NY
Lighthouses are one of my passions, symbols of strength and safety
I love lighthouses. I have seen a couple up close
They are beautiful, I really like your e-mails. Thanks so much
I am addicted to lighthouses, I will be forwarding some that I’ve have photographed recently, hope you enjoy 🙂 My husband and I have traveled the coast of Maine from the southern end all the way up to Quoddy Head in Lubec, this year even across the bridge to Campobello Island, what a beautiful lighthouse there (East Quoddy Head)!
Double Wow! These pictures are great, some of them truly outstanding! VT has their share of lakes – watch for Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Events and come visit the 400th year of its founding- but lighthouses are nil. These bring back memories of when I lived in other places nearer the ocean. Thanks, everyone! They are lovely pictures.
Roz hom2vt@gmail.com
Yes Sharon, there are lighthouses on the West Coast — all up and down just as in the East. We also have lighthouses on our inland Lake Havasu in Arizona — all the ones on the east side of the lake are smaller replicas of those on the East Coast and those on the west side of the lake are replicas of those on the West Coast. Those on islands in the middle are replicas of those on the Great Lakes.
Pearl tucsonfolks@hotmail.com
I absolutely love these photo’s. Everyone is gorgeous. Thank you so much.
The photograph entitled Halfway Rock Light is actually the Ram Island lighthouse, off Cape Elizabeth. Halfway Rock marks the halfway point between the easternmost & westernmost points of Casco Bay; the lighthouse is white.
You can rent out accommodations at the Race Point Lighthouse in Provincetown, Mass, Cape Cod. For additional information see: http://web.me.com/jenkinsgroup/Race_Point/Welcome.html
It’s supposed to be a terrific experience.
I have photos of two lighthouses in Virginia Beach. They are the Cape Henry lighthouses. Would be nice if we could submit lighthouses from all over. I love them too.
When I see a lighthouse, I think of life, hope, safety, and home. They are a calming effect that says “it’s okay, I’m here to guide you and you are safely home.” Absolutely lovely. I agree with Johnnie Greene in that one of my fondest dreams is living in a lighthouse and watching as the ships pass by. God bless you all.
You can stay overnight at Rose Island Lighthouse, In Rhode Island, and serve as the lighthouse keeper during your stay. Very popular; sign up way in advance!
Love the lighthouses. Always so enjoyable to see them. They are the silent sentries keeping ships safe.
Every time we go to Cape Cod, we ALWAYS stop at Chatham Light. Every Wednesday for several hours a day, the Coast Guard opens the lighthouse during July and August.
Thanks for the great pictures.
Beatiful lighthouses, I have a collection of them.I have never seen a real one. Some day I hope.
In a previous career I was a Coast Guard officer who had the good fortune to visit most of the lights from Point Judith up to West Quoddy Head. I agree with the other commenter that the one shot is Ram Island Ledge Light off Portland Harbor. The Keeper’s House on Isle au Haut was a great inn, but I am not sure if they are still in operation. It’s been 8 years since I stayed there.
The Light titiled Halfway Rock, Is actually Ram Island Ledge. This light is located off of Portland Head in Cape Elizabeth. C Jorden said this was Ram Island Light which is located in Boothbay, off Lineakin Point.
Regarding light houses in Vermont. The Shelburne Museum in Shelburne VT has an exhibit on the Colchester Reef lighthouse which is due to reopen at the end of July. This was moved to the museum from Lake Champlain in the 1950’s. Its having some foundation work done. The light house is near another great exhibit the steamboat Ticonderoga. http://www.shelburnemuseum.org/
Two Vermont Lighthouses are active though on private land and not public.
Isle la Motte, northern Lake Champlain and Windmill Point Light in Alburg, Vermont
These two lighthouses were unused for 70 years and relit in 2002.
Re: VT & Lake Champlain – there are also two reconstructed towers on the Burlington breakwaters, plus at least two of the three on Lake Memphranog (YOU GUYS SPELL IT!), up on the Canadian border, have been revived. Lk Champlain has 6 more on the NY side. For those of you who think of Maine as the Lighthouse State – NY has 30 more standing towers today than Maine does. Yes, as a transplanted Yankee it’s hard to admit that, but it is true. A new book, “Light-Keepers of Lake Champlain” is available through the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (lcmm.org).
Isn’t there a dryland lighthouse on Greylock Mountain in Massachusetts? (near North Adams & Williamstown area)
These pictures are phenomenal!!! I’m also a lighthouse fanatic, and that’s part of my bucket list…to visit as many as possible! Thank you for these gorgeous pictures…many of which would be framed and on my walls, if I had them! And, it most certainly worked to soothe some frazzled nerves after a very tense election…God Bless America, and particularly all the people who work long, hard, tirelessly to preserve these beautiful symbols of our great country!
I have been a lighthouse lover for 80 years and never get enough of either photos or the real thing. I am sorry that there were so many photos of Portland Head and not one of Pemaquid Point, my absolute favorite.
We would love for you to include Seguin Island Light Station. It is managed by the Friends of Seguin Island Light Station and is located 2.5 miles off the coast of Maine from Popham Beach. We are the only light north of RI, with a First-order Fresnel lens and the only still working tram in the state of ME.
Hi Julie. Do you have a photo? If you do, feel free to send it along to aimees@yankeepub.com and we can add it to the post. Thanks!
Thank you, Aimee! What a good idea to post these beacons of light on such a dark and difficult day.
Beautiful and informative.. Thanks for posting them.
Pemaquid Point in Bristol, ME wasn’t shown. We fell in love with this lighthouse that we got married in it at sunset.
New London! <3
Pemaquid Point in Maine, and Bug Light in Plymouth, MA
jPemaquid Point is my all time favorite. Sitting on the rocks around it to watch the waves coming in is a favorite thing to do.
Plymouth Light (The Gurnet) is my favorite. Oldest wooden light in the US (1842)
Favorite lighthouse? Marshall Point Light House at the entrance to the harbor in Port Clyde, Maine. Marshall Point is where Forest Gump ended his west to east run across the USA. Although I knew the answer, on one visit I asked an old gent if this was where they filmed Forest Gump running up the catwalk. “Eyah,” he replied in a thick Maine accent, “Ah was hee-yah when they were filming. He had to do it 16 times ‘fore ‘e got it raaght!”
Although I love the Nubble and Bass Harbor Light as do many, my favorite has not been mentioned. That is Race Rock Light at the West end of Fishers Island, at the intersection of Fishers Island Sound and Long Island Sound. This area is one of the most treacherous stretches of water in Long Island Sound with currents and rips tides of significant strength, particularly on the ebb tide.
Just happened to see the Portland Head light and the Nubble Light on my vacation last week, first time to Maine. The Nubble light is in scaffolding now but still quite a sight. Check out Fox’s Lobster nearby for some great food while you’re there.
There are Twin Lights on Thacher Island, Rockport,MA. Can’t be seen well from Bearskin Neck in Rockport. Best views are along the shore roads from Rockport to Gloucester. You can take a 15 minute launch trip from the Town Dock near the Sandy Bay Yacht Club. Make reservations, since it only makes trips from June through the summer, 3 trips on Saturday mornings and one on Wednesday mornings. The launch only holds 6 passengers, so limited space and options. Walking trails all around the island. You can also get there your own boat or loyal. Go to rockportlighthouses.com for a gallery of photos. There Is another lighthouse in the area, Cape Ann, the Annisquam Lighthouse.
Sorry! Correction on my last comment! It’s newenglandlighthouses.net and besides the launch, youcan get there with your own dinghy or kayak. No dock, just a ramp.
Are there any photos of the ” three sisters ” Cape Cod, Mass.
In another life, I was the wife of the USCG lighthouse keeper at Eastern Point Light in Gloucester, Mass. It was a fantastic place to live! The winter storms were powerful; the scenery, breathtaking; and the lobstering, plentiful! We offered tours of the light daily to visitors from all over the world. Alas, they automated the light in the mid-1980s and, last I saw it, it had fallen into disrepair. A by-gone era.