| Boon Island, ME | |
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Description:
President James Madison authorized the building of
Boon Island Lighthouse during the War of 1812. A new lighthouse tower was erected near the
old tower in 1855, consisting of a gray granite conical tower, 133 feet above the water,
and a few miles off the coast of Maine.
One story is told of how the keepers were once marooned on the island for several weeks because of storms and rough weather. Their food supplies were low and starvation seemed to be staring them in the face. Just at the point of desperation a boat appeared and they signaled for help. The keeper’s message in a bottle was picked up by the passing schooner which hove to and anchored until the sea went down. Then the crew packed some food in a mackerel barrel and set it afloat. It drifted right into a little cove on the island and then the sea caught it and bounced it well up on the bank, out of the way of the surf. The hunger of the keepers was appeased until they were able to go ashore and get supplies at the village of York.
The second-order Fresnel Lens from the Boon Island Lighthouse is on display at the Kittery Historical and Naval Museum in Kittery, Maine. The information plaques near the lens read: The Corduan lenses were ground by a Parisian, Jean-Baptiste Froncois, from “Crown Glass” produced by the Royal Glassworks at St. Gobain near Paris. Crown Glass possesses several advantages over “Flint” Glass, which could also have been used for the lenses. Although Crown Glass has a greenish tint and a lower index of refraction than Flint Glass, Crown Glass is harder, less dense, and less reactive with atmospheric contaminants than lead-bearing Flint Glass. Lighthouse lenses have used Crown Glass almost exclusively since the 1820’s.
In May of 2000, the lighthouse was leased by the Coast Guard to the American Lighthouse Foundation, which is now responsible for maintaining the tower. References
Purchase prints and gifts featuring photographs on this page Location: Located on Boon Island, roughly 9.5 miles offshore from York Beach. Latitude: 43.121449 Longitude: -70.476422 For a larger map of Boon Island Lighthouse, click the lighthouse in the above map or get a map from: Mapquest. Travel Instructions: The Boon Island Lighthouse is best seen by boat, but a distant view is possible from the Cape Neddick Lighthouse. Isles of Shoals Steamship Company occasionally offers cruises that pass by the lighthouse. The lighthouse is owned by the Coast Guard but leased to the American Lighthouse Foundation. Grounds/tower closed. Find the closest hotels to Boon Island Lighthouse See our List of Lighthouses in Maine |
Pictures on this page copyright Kraig Anderson, used by permission.