Portsmouth Harbor Light
The Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Fort Constitution in New Castle , New Hampshire , USA . It is near the Fort Constitution Historic Site .
The tower was built in 1771 and was the tenth of eleven lighthouses built before the American Revolutionary War . The first tower was made of wood and equipped with an iron lantern and a copper roof. Three copper oil lamps served as a light source.
In 1804 a 24 m high octagonal wooden tower was built approx. 91 m east of the tower from 1771, which replaced the old one. In 1851 this tower was shortened to 17 m. Three years later, in 1854, the tower was equipped with a Fresnel lens (4th order).
In 1878 a new 15 m high tower made of cast iron and brick was built on the same foundation as the tower from 1804. When the new tower was built, the structures surrounding the tower from 1804 were removed. The beacon is a fixed green signal that is visible 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers). The light turns green through an acrylic cylinder that surrounds the lens. Other buildings on the lighthouse that are still standing are the oil house from 1903 (restored in 2004) and the guard house (1872), which is currently used as an office building by the US Coast Guard .
Web links
- Portsmouth Harbor Light at the National Park Service (English)
Coordinates: 43 ° 4 ′ 15.9 " N , 70 ° 42 ′ 30.7" W.