What Is the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse?
This is the easternmost lighthouse in the USA!
What Makes It Historical?
On April 21, 1806, Congress appropriated $5,000 (over $129,000 in 2024) to build a lighthouse at West Quoddy Head that would guide sailors heading in to Lubec via the Quoddy Roads. The first version was built by the firm of Beal and Thaxter and staffed by Thomas Dexter for $250 per year! Second keeper, Peter Godrey, later found himself in a real pickle when the British commandeered the light during the War of 1812 and went back on promises to pay him for his efforts!
This was a lighthouse for experimenting, as one of the first in the nation (1820) to test out a fog bell instead of a fog cannon, over the course of 17 years because the first three couldn’t be heard well out at sea! This was replaced by a Daboll trumpet fog whistle in 1869! The tower, too, got a few makeovers, first in 1830 when it was rebuilt from rubblestone by Joseph Berry, then again in 1857 when the 49-foot tower got its signature candy stripes, third-order Fresnel lens, and an accompanying lighthouse keeper’s home.
It was tough out here for a keeper’s family, because there was a lot of fog to ring the bell about, and semi-regular shipwrecks. Plus, while they could raise chickens and pigs, the soil was so poor that to get any veggies, they’d have to travel to Lubec, an easy six miles on today’s roads but a long, rugged journey in the 1800s! Much later, in the 1940s, the family of keeper, Bob Gray, found what looked like a bomb on the beach but luckily learned that it was a German decoy! The last human keeper at West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, who oversaw its automation in 1988, was Malcolm Rouse, and today, this candy cane lighthouse is a fully automated centerpiece to Quoddy Head State Park!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Become a member of the American Lighthouse Foundation!
- Donate to the West Quoddy Head Lightkeepers Association!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
973 S Lubec Rd
Lubec, ME 04652
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
The lighthouse is open from Memorial Day until October 15th, Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM and on Sundays from 11:00 AM until 4:00 PM!
More Photos
