 | ||||||
Chris J LeBlanc Photography - Lighthouses
Providing details and historical information of lighthouse pictures taken during my travels
Greak Duck Island Lighthouse
Great Duck Island, Maine
Great Duck Island Lighthouse Links
© 2011 - Chris J LeBlanc Photographer
Location: Located on Great Duck Island.
Latitude: N 44.14223
Longitude: W 68.24585
Year Constructed: 1890. Active
Tower Height: 42 feet Focal Plane: 67 feet
Round cylindrical granite tower with lantern and gallery; solar-powered VRB-25 aerobeacon (1986). Tower painted white, lantern black. The original 1-1/2 story wood keeper's house is in use as an ecology research facility, the brick fog signal building (1890) was renovated in 1994 along with original boathouse, oil house (1901), and other light station buildings.
Historical Information:
- Station Established: 1890
- Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1890
- Operational? YES
- Automated? YES 1986
- Foundation Materials: TIMBER/STONE
- Construction Materials: BRICK/GRANITE
- Tower Shape: CYLINDRICAL
- Markings/Pattern: WHITE W/BLACK LANTERN
- Original Lens: FIFTH ORDER, FRESNEL
The Lighthouse Board recommended a light station on the island in 1885. Work on the station began in May 1890. Construction was completed by the end of the year, and the light was established on December 31, 1890. The lantern on the 42-foot cylindrical brick lighthouse originally held a fifth-order Fresnel lens.
Three keepers' dwellings of six rooms each were built side by side near the lighthouse, along with outbuildings and a brick fog signal building with a steam-operated horn. A 1,200-pound bell was provided as backup. An oil house was added in 1901. In 1902, the original lens was replaced by a fourth-order lens. Many other improvements to the station were made in the 1902-1906 period, including the addition of a tramway from the landing to the fog signal building.
The light was automated in 1986 and the Fresnel lens was replaced by a modern optic. In charge of the automation was Linwood Ginn, a 30-year veteran of the Coast Guard whose grandfather was a keeper at Mount Desert Rock Light. At the time Ginn said, "I hate to see them automated. I hate to see them closed up. They start deteriorating fast."
Historic Postcard of Great Duck Island Lighthouse
| ||||||
| ||||||
