Burnt Island Light
I got up early this morning to take a 6:00 AM sunrise lighthouse boat tour for photographers out of Boothbay Harbor, Maine. This was the first lighthouse and we were there just as the sun came over the island behind us. It was quite chilly with some choppy waves and swells on the open water.
he Burnt Island Light, built in 1821, is the second oldest surviving lighthouse in Maine. It hosts a living history museum run by the state Department of Marine Resources. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Burnt Island Light Station on November 23, 1977.
Burnt Island lies at the western entrance to Boothbay Harbor, a large natural harbor with the town of the same name at its northeastern corner. The island took its name from the practice of burning the island's vegetation in order to keep the land clear for sheep grazing.
A granite rubble tower, lined with brick, was erected, together with a stone keeper's house, and late that summer the light was first exhibited, using the system of whale oil lamps and parabolic reflectors typical of the time. The original keeper's house was replaced in 1857 with the frame house that survives today; At the same time a fourth order Fresnel lens was installed, the first of many changes in the lighting and characteristic of the beacon. [Wikipedia]
Burnt Island Light
I got up early this morning to take a 6:00 AM sunrise lighthouse boat tour for photographers out of Boothbay Harbor, Maine. This was the first lighthouse and we were there just as the sun came over the island behind us. It was quite chilly with some choppy waves and swells on the open water.
he Burnt Island Light, built in 1821, is the second oldest surviving lighthouse in Maine. It hosts a living history museum run by the state Department of Marine Resources. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Burnt Island Light Station on November 23, 1977.
Burnt Island lies at the western entrance to Boothbay Harbor, a large natural harbor with the town of the same name at its northeastern corner. The island took its name from the practice of burning the island's vegetation in order to keep the land clear for sheep grazing.
A granite rubble tower, lined with brick, was erected, together with a stone keeper's house, and late that summer the light was first exhibited, using the system of whale oil lamps and parabolic reflectors typical of the time. The original keeper's house was replaced in 1857 with the frame house that survives today; At the same time a fourth order Fresnel lens was installed, the first of many changes in the lighting and characteristic of the beacon. [Wikipedia]