Pond Island Light, Kennebec River, Maine
Built in 1821.
POND ISLAND LIGHT
KENNEBEC RIVER ENTRANCE WEST SIDE
Station Established: 1821
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1855
Operational? YES
Automated? YES 1963
Deactivated: n/a
Foundation Materials: GRANITE BLOCKS
Construction Materials: BRICK
Tower Shape: CYLINDRICAL
Markings/Pattern: WHITE W/BLACK TRIM
Relationship to Other Structure: SEPARATE
Original Lens: FIFTH ORDER
Historical Information:
- 1821 – The first lighthouse, a conical stone tower, was built.
- 1849 – Vessel Hanover ran into sand bar near the lighthouse and sank with all hands on board. Only a dog survived.
- 1855 – Lighthouse rebuilt as a cylindrical brick tower. 5th order Fresnel lens installed.
- 1869 – Fog bell tower and striking mechanism destroyed in a storm.
- 1963 – Lighthouse automated, Fresnel lens replaced by modern lens. Keeper’s house, oil house, fog signal building and boathouse all were dismantled.
- Currently the island serves as a bird sanctuary by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Keepers:
- S. L. Rodgers (c. 1820s)
- Joseph Rogers( c. 1820s)
- David Spinney (1837?-1849)
- Octavius Stevens (1849)
- Ebenezer Sewell (1849-1852)
- Thomas Spinney (c. 1852-1861)
- William G. Todd (1867-1870)
- Washington Oliver (1871-1877)
- Charles S. Brown (1878-?)
- Edwin Wyman (?-1889)
- Isaac Morrison (1889-c. 1903)
- Napoleon B. Fickett (c. 1926-1948)
- Harvey Lamson (c. 1948-1950)
- Ronald D. Howard (?-1960)
Researched and written by Marie Vincent, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.