Pumpkin Island Lighthouse

Oct. 7, 2019
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Pumpkin Island Lighthouse, Pumpkin Island, near the northwestern tip of Little Deer Isle, Penobscot Bay, Maine

Built in 1854.

PUMPKIN ISLAND LIGHT

NORTHERN ENTRANCE TO EGGEMOGGIN REACH, PENOBSCOT BAY, MAINE
Station Established: 1854
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1854
Operational? NO
Automated? N/A
Deactivated: 1933
Foundation Materials: STONE
Construction Materials: BRICK
Tower Shape: CYLINDRICAL 
Markings/Pattern: WHITE TOWER W/BLACK LANTERN
Relationship to Other Structure: ATTACHED
Original Lens: FIFTH ORDER, FRESNEL

Historical Information:

  • In December 1854 the Pumpkin Island Light was first lit. The 25 foot tower is attached to a 1 and ½ story keeper’s house by a work shed.
  • A fifth order lens was installed in the light. This was one of the first Fresnel lens in Maine.
  • In 1885 a boathouse was built and in 1889 the tower was raised 3 feet by the installation of a new lantern.
  • An oil house was added in 1904 and the boathouse was enlarged in 1906.
  • The original lens was replaced by another fifth order lens in 1909. In 1930 the light was automated.
  • The station was sold at an auction in 1934. It remains in private ownership. It is not an active aid to navigation.
  • There is an automated beacon near the site that is an active aid.

Researched and written by Melissa Buckler, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.
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