Cape Neddick Light
The Cape Neddick Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on Nubble Island , a small rocky island about 200 meters from Cape Neddick Point, York Beach , York County , Maine , United States . It was built and put into operation in 1879.
The lighthouse is also commonly known as Nubble Lighthouse Station or Nubble Light for short ; the official name used by the US Coast Guard is Cape Neddick Light .
The Nubble is still fully functional today, the red flashing light signal can still be seen 13 nautical miles away in good weather conditions and serves as a navigation aid for ships despite being equipped with GPS .
The last lighthouse keeper (Russel Ahlgren) left the station in 1987 after the facility was automated . The island of Nubble Island has since been uninhabited and inaccessible to visitors. The reasons for this are provisions from liability insurance, the danger that exists when crossing by boat, fire protection regulations and the protection and maintenance of the facility and the property. However, the lighthouse can be observed very well from the nearby Sohier Park on the mainland .
The Nubble Lighthouse , whose nickname can be derived from the fact that it was built on a "hump-shaped" piece of land (English expression "... built on a" nub "or knob of land ...") , is considered to be one of the most photographed and visited lighthouses in the US. An estimated 250,000 visitors come to Sohier Park every year to marvel at the lighthouse.
The system on the island comprises 5 buildings: the tower with the beacon, the house (7 rooms), the red oil house (generator house), the white tool and storage house and the boathouse.
Life on the island was not easy: there were no water pipes and the beacon keepers had to collect the rainwater in a cistern for use as drinking water ; the toilets were flushed with sea water. The food was supplied by a transport cable car that led from the mainland to the island. The lighthouse crew was instructed to always ensure a supply for at least 30 days.
significance
- On many websites about the lighthouse it is mentioned again and again that the NASA space probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 , which were launched in 1977 , also had a Voyager Golden Record on the gold record they carried along with pictures of the Great Wall of China and other terrestrial sights Photo of Nubble Light on board. NASA sources confirm these claims: In the Voyager image Scenes from Earth , image # 42 with the title "Seashore, by Dick Smith" shows the Cape Neddick Lightstation .
- Twice a year, Nubble shines in a very special shine. For this purpose, the tower and the main house are illuminated with Christmas lights. Once for a single day in July, this event is known as Christmas in July and another time around Christmas time. The festive lighting starts here on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving .
- The photogenic Cape Neddick Lighthouse has been used as a background motif several times in commercials. In 2001 the US band Nickel Creek shot their music video The Lighthouse's Tale with Nubble in the background.
history
The erection of a lighthouse on "Nubble Island" has been requested by seafarers again and again since 1807.
In 1837 the proposal was abandoned because there were already three in service beacons in the area: Boon Island, Whaleback Light, and Portsmouth Harbor Light.
Even after the shipwreck of the barque Isidore north of Nubbel in 1842 , it still took nearly four decades for the plan to materialize.
In 1874 the administration of President Rutherford B. Hayes approved $ 15,000 for the construction of the lighthouse.
The island on which the lighthouse stands was bought from local businessmen on February 5, 1879, and five months later, on July 1, 1879, the steady red light on the 14-meter-high and originally painted reddish-brown cast-iron tower became the put into operation for the first time. The actual beacon is about 27 meters above sea level .
In 1902 the tower was painted white. In the same year the striking red oil house was built and in 1911 the complex was supplemented with the covered walkway that connects the residential building with the tower and was supposed to protect the beacon keeper from storms on the way from the house to the tower . Originally, the lighthouse had an acoustic warning signal a 3,000 pound heavy fog bell that hung from a scaffold tower and still six nautical miles from the lighthouse keeper at Boon Iceland could be perceived. The bell had to be struck by hand with a hammer every 15 seconds by the lighthouse keeper during fog or rain, which was a considerable physical effort.
In 1911 the frame was replaced by a pyramid-shaped white bell tower . The drive of the fog bell was controlled by a mechanism similar to a clockwork: By “winding” weights were lifted up, which could then move the bell handle for several hours. The bell tower was demolished again in 1961 and the bell was replaced by an electric fog horn that is automatically activated in foggy or rainy weather conditions.
In the period from 1930 to 1940, some modernizations were made to the lighthouse and the house. So was z. For example, the kerosene-powered beacon was replaced by an electric lamp, and the house was given a toilet, to the great relief of the families living there. Before doing this, they had to go to a facility outside the house, which turned out to be quite problematic in the event of severe storms.
In 1941, during the Second World War , devices for guns and observation towers for spying on German submarines were built on Nubble Island , which were manned by crews of the US Coast Guard. During this time the red beacon was switched off for military reasons.
In fact, in 1943, a German submarine was spotted from Nubble Island and reported to the US Navy in Portsmouth, which sank the submarine with depth charges. The lighthouse's light signal was not switched on again until June 1945.
In 1978 the boathouse was destroyed by a huge blizzard and replaced by the current building.
On April 16, 1985, Cape Neddick Light was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a monument .
In 1987 the automation of the station was completed, and the last lighthouse keeper left the island, which has been uninhabited since then and can only be entered with a special permit. A total of 30 lighthouse keepers, some of whom lived on Nubble with their families, were on duty at Cape Neddick Lighthouse Station . The island and the station were leased to the US Coast Guard by the City of York in the same year . The city of York is responsible for the care and maintenance of the facility, but the US Coast Guard is still responsible for and maintaining the beacon.
A “master plan” is being developed for the future of Nubble , which, in addition to various repair work, should also include public access to the lighthouse island. However, there has not yet been a fixed schedule.
Beacon keeper (1879–1987)
The following beacon keepers were on duty at Cape Neddick Lighthouse Station:
- Leander White (1879 - was recalled before the lighthouse was completed)
- Simon Leighton (1879 - resigned due to illness before the lighthouse went into operation)
- Nathaniel Otterson (1879–1898)
- Brackett Lewis (1898-1904)
- William M. Brooks (1904-1912)
- James Burke (1912-1919)
- William Richardson (1919-1921)
- Fairfield Moore (1921-1928)
- Edmund Howe (1928-1930)
- Truman J. Lathrop (1930)
- Eugene Coleman (1930-1943)
- Oscar M. "Tiny" Sparrow (US Coast Guard, approx. 1940s)
- Wilber Brewster (US Coast Guard, ca.1940s)
- Bruce R. Reed (US Coast Guard, ca.1950s)
- Boyd L. Davis (US Coast Guard, ca.1950s)
- John Johnson (US Coast Guard, ca.1961)
- Leo R. Midgett (US Coast Guard, ca.1964)
- Allan E. Wilson (US Coast Guard, ca.1960s)
- Alfred Paul Chadwick (US Coast Guard, ca.1967)
- David K. Winchester (US Coast Guard)
- Arnold P. Chadwick (US Coast Guard)
- Lindsay C. Rome (US Coast Guard)
- Daniel J. Fries (US Coast Guard)
- Michael Carbino (US Coast Guard)
- Michael Hackett (US Coast Guard, 1973-1975)
- Richard Harrison (US Coast Guard, 1975-1977)
- Ronald O'Brien (US Coast Guard, 1977-1979)
- John Terry (US Coast Guard, 1979-1984)
- Robert French (US Coast Guard, 1984–1986)
- Russell Ahlgren (US Coast Guard, 1986-1987)
The longest service on Nubble Iceland was doing Nathaniel Otterson (19 years, 1879-1898) at an annual salary of $ 500 plus an allowance of $ 30 for fuel.
A total of three family members of the beacon keepers died on the island, so that the legend of the Curse of the Nubble (The Jinx of the Nubble) made the rounds.
The Colemans (1930–1942) pet became a certain celebrity : Not only did tomcat Sambo Tonkus weighed a handsome nineteen pounds, Mr. T also turned out to be a real lighthouse cat. He was able to cross over from the island through the channel to the mainland to catch mice. Tonkus was an attraction for tourists at that time.
Technical specifications
- Fully functional and in service with the US Coast Guard
- Total height: 30 m above sea level
- tower
- Tower height: 14 m
- Tower diameter: 4.5 m
- Construction: cast iron coated with bricks , 7 cm thick
- Light signal
- Fire height: 27 m
- Light signal: 3 seconds on, 3 seconds off (24h).
- Beacon power: Quartz precision lamp with 1000 watts (+ a backup lamp).
- Carrying distance: 13 nautical miles
- Optics:
- Original (in 1879): 4th order Fresnel lens , destroyed when the lamp exploded
- Currently (since 1928): 4th order Fresnel lens, surrounded by red Plexiglas prisms
- Type: sea fire, navigational aid
- Acoustic signal
- Fog horn: 1-second signal every 10 seconds
literature
- William O. Thomas: Nubble Light, A Captivating Lighthouse , ISBN 0-9652055-4-1
Web links
- Website with information about the history of the lighthouse
- Webcam with a view of Cape Neddick Lighthouse from Fox's Lobster House restaurant
- New England Lighthouses, a Virtual Guide
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.newenglandlighthouses.net/cape-neddick-nubble-light-history.html
- ↑ http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/sceneearth.html
- ↑ http://goldenrecord.org
- ↑ Entry in the National Register Information System . National Park Service , accessed June 13, 2016
Coordinates: 43 ° 9 ′ 55 " N , 70 ° 35 ′ 28" W.