Location Sheepscot River, Maine Tower shape Square Brick Tower Original lens 4th order Fresnel lens Current lens length 25 cm Automated 1975 Year first constructed 1829 | Deactivated 1933-1951 Markings / pattern White Opened 1829 Focal height 13 m Added to NRHP 20 November 1987 | |
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Year first lit 1875 (current structure) Address Light House Ln, Southport, ME 04576, USA Similar The Cuckolds Light, Squirrel Point Light Station, Doubling Point Light Station, Burnt Island Light, Perkins Island Light Station | ||
Hendricks Head Light is a lighthouse in Southport, Maine marking the west side of the mouth of the Sheepscot River. The light station was established in 1829, and its present structures date to 1875. It was deactivated in 1933, but relit in 1951. The two-story wood keeper's house is now a private summer residence. The light is on continuously, showing white to the west and red to the east. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Hendricks Head Light Station on November 20, 1987.
Description and history
The town of Southport occupies an eponymous island on the Mid Coast of Maine, separating the Sheepscot River from the Boothbay Harbor. Hendricks Head is a peninsula extending southwest on the northern part of the island's western shore, and marks the westernmost point of the island. The lighthouse is located at the tip of the peninsula. The station includes a tower, keeper's house, fog bell tower, shed, and oil house. The tower is a tapered square-shingled wood-frame structure, topped by an octagonal lantern house. It was originally connected to the keeper's house via a covered walkway. The keeper's house is a T-shaped 2 1⁄2-story wood-frame building. The bell tower is a roughly pyramidal structure, with a central enclosed section housing the bell.
The light station was established in 1829 to mark the mouth of the Sheepscot River, which provided access to the then-important shipbuilding and port center of Wiscasset. The original light station consisted of a keeper's house, built on a rubble foundation, with the lantern house mounted on top. The present tower and keeper's house were built in 1875, the house on the foundation of the previous building.