Vacations -

Lighthouses

Here is a series of views of the Mount Desert Rock lighthouse.  These were all taken while we were on various whale watches bewtween 2004 and 2010. 

Mount Desert Rock Lighthouse, ME

It is one of the most isolated, and certainly the most exposed, lighthouse in the US.  Congress authorized construction in early 1829, and it was operational in 1830, using a wooden tower with the light some 44 feet above high water level.  The present granite tower was completed in 1847, but was only 48 feet tall.  The lighthouse was upgraded in 1855, and the tower raised an additional 10 feet in 1857 to accommodate a new third-order Fresnel lens.  The light was now 75 feet above sea-level, and was visible for about 20 miles.  A new 1,000 pound fog bell was installed in 1877.  A louder horn replaced the bell in 1893 after the new keepers quarters were completed in 1892.  Then, in 1898, a flashing beacon replaced the fixed white light.  The lighthouse was automated in 1977, and a new solar-powered Vega VRB-25 aerobeacon was added in 1993. 

In the late 1970s, it was leased to the College of the Atlantic, based in Bar Harbor, Maine, for use in their whale research program.  As of 1989, the College owns the island. 

It was severely damaged on August 29th 2009 by Hurricane Bill, and the small building to the left in the first picture was destroyed.  In the lower two pictures, from 2010, you can see the repairs in progress.