As I have done in some years past, I decided to look for lighthouses decorated with Christmas lights for this week's LoTW. So I did. I found a picture of one, but it turned out that it wasn't really a lighthouse, it was a house with an architectural feature that looks like a lighthouse. It was decorated for Christmas.
However, it turned out that near this house was an actual lighthouse, which is, however, no longer a functioning active light beacon, it is also a private home (since 1934). But it is enough of a landmark that it has been the subject of artistic photography and painting.
The lighthouse is the Pumpkin Island lighthouse. It's on East Penobscot Bay, just off Little Deer Isle, just east of Acadia National Park, and just off coast from the lyrically named Eggemoggin at the northern end of the isle, which is also at the northern end of Eggemoggin Reach. If you sail south on Eggemoggin Reach, the next body of water you "reach" is Jericho Sound and Mount Desert Narrows, adjacent to the park. Given its proximity to the national park, the strange shape of Maine's coastline, and the fact that there are many other lighthouses that are somewhat more unique and open to the public, I imagine that it is not seen very often by the tourist crowd.
Here's the basic info on the lighthouse from the Lighthouse Directory; there isn't a lot of info or history for this one.
"1854. Inactive since 1933 (charted as a landmark). 28 ft (8.5 m) round cylindrical brick tower with lantern and gallery, attached to 1-1/2 story wood keeper's house."
The house with the Christmas lights is on Haskell District Road, at the southern end of Little Deer Isle. Even though it's not really a lighthouse, here's the picture of the holiday-decorated house. According to the article where I found this, there's also a holiday light show.
And here are four pictures of the Pumpkin Island lighthouse, and a short video.
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| by Carolyn Derstine |
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