Location Monhegan Island, Maine Automated 1959 Construction Granite blocks Opened 1824 Focal height 54 m Current len VRB-25 | Year first constructed 1824 (1824) Foundation Surface rock Address Monhegan, ME 04852, USA Range 37,040 m Added to NRHP 7 May 1980 Architect Alexander Parris | |
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Year first lit 1850 (current structure) Similar Mount Desert Light Stati, Isle au Haut Light, Franklin Island Light, Browns Head Light, Indian Island Light | ||
Monhegan Island Light is a lighthouse on Monhegan Island, Maine. It was first established in 1824. The present structure was built in 1850. It was Alexander Parris's last significant design. It is the second highest light in Maine — only Seguin Light, on a significantly higher island, is higher. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Monhegan Island Lighthouse and Quarters on May 7, 1980, reference number 80000239.
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Description and history
Monhegan Island Light stands on the highest point of the island. The lighthouse complex includes the tower, keeper's house, storage building, and oil house. The tower is a circular structure built out granite blocks with sloping walls, and is 47 feet (14 m) tall, with the lantern house mounted on top. A brick entry house, with gabled roof, is attached to the south side of the tower. The storage building is a single-story wood frame structure, and the oil house is a small brick structure with a gabled roof. The keeper's house, now serving as the Monhegan Museum, is a 1-1/2 story wood frame building.
The light station was authorized by Congress in 1822, and went into operation in 1824; the present tower dates to 1850. The light was automated in 1959, and is managed by remote control from the Manana Island Sound Signal Station. (The latter station was administratively managed as part of the Monhegan Light Station from 1850 to 1874, and has been under separate administration since.)
Monhegan Museum
The lighthouse building complex is now operated as the Monhegan Museum, with exhibits of the island's natural, social, industrial, cultural and artistic history. The lighthouse tower's light mechanism is still operated by the Coast Guard, but the Monhegan Museum owns the tower and opens it to the public on occasion each season.