Pemaquid Point Lighthouse

Description

Beautiful Pemaquid Point, ME on the Atlantic Coast.

Rising above crashing surf and spectacular rock formations, the Pemaquid Lighthouse is a cultural and historical treasure. Each year, about 100,000 visitors come to explore the park grounds, take in the panoramic view of the Atlantic and marvel at one of the state’s best known icons. It is so honored that, in 2003, Maine citizens voted to use its likeness to represent them on the state quarter.

The Pemaquid Point Lighthouse tower and Keeper’s House were commissioned by John Quincy Adams and were constructed in 1827. But neither lasted long, perhaps because the builder used salt water to mix his lime mortar. The second contract stipulated that only fresh water be used. The new tower, built by stone mason Joseph Berry from Georgetown, was completed in 1835. A new wood frame Keeper’s House was added in 1857.

Pemaquid was an early settlement on Pemaquid Point in the town of Bristol in Lincoln County. Early explorers such as David Ingram (1569) and Captain Bartholomew Gosnold (1602), visited the area before the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts

The Popham colonists visited Pemaquid before sailing on to their site on the Kennebec River. They returned a native of the area, Skidwarres, who had been captured by George Weymouth and brought to England.

According to Isaacson,

It seems probable that a group of Bristol (England) merchants maintained a fishing and trading center with a resident agent here as early as 1600 or before. The history of the cellar holes and paved streets is not satisfactorily explained even now.”