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 Quoddy Head State Park - Lubec, ME Posted by:  T0SHEA
N 44° 49.037 W 066° 57.376
19T E 661588 N 4964685
Built in 1858, Quoddy Head Light is one of the most distinctive and photographed of the Atlantic lighthouses, the one with the red and white stripes.
Waymark Code: WM104KC
Location: Maine, United States
Date Posted: 02/25/2019
Views: 3
Quoddy Head State Park occupies some of the easternmost land in the United States. While the park offers scenic hiking trails, a majestic view over Quoddy Channel to the red cliffs of Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick and some of Maine's best wildlife-watching, the real focal point of the park is Quoddy Head Light. The park is open 9:00 a.m. to sunset daily from May 15 to October 15.
This lighthouse also has the distinction of being the easternmost light in the United States, standing on the easternmost point of land in the United States. Today a National Historic Site, the station is still active, with the light still shining out to sea to warn seafarers of the dangers nearby. The rest of the site, though, has become a visitor centre, operated by the West Quoddy Head Light Keepers Association.
Surrounding the lighthouse and visitor centre is the "tame" section of the park, with picnic tables on manicured grass at which one may picnic to the sound of the crashing waves below. A nautical flagpole stands at the park's edge by one of the picnic tables and an old lighthouse bell from 1900 has been put on display near the lighthouse. Several historic markers, both at the lighthouse and near the parking area above, relate the history of the light, the park and the waters offshore.
The lighthouse was built in 1858, on a site that has hosted a lighthouse since 1808. On July 4, 1980 the Quoddy Head Light was entered in the US National Register of Historic Places. More information on the lighthouse and surrounding area can be found at the West Quoddy Head Light website.
Quoddy Head State Park
Quoddy Head State Park encompasses 541 acres at the tip of America's easternmost peninsula, offering opportunities to visit an historic lighthouse, picnic and hike up to 5 miles of scenic trails. From the candy-striped West Quoddy Head Light, Maine's easternmost lighthouse, visitors can look out over Quoddy Channel (which divides the U.S. and Canada) to the towering red cliffs of Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick.
Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson, West Quoddy Head Light was first built in 1808. The present tower and house, which date back to 1858, were staffed by resident lightkeepers until 1988 when the U.S. Coast Guard automated the light.
The Park affords some of Maine's best wildlife-watching. Visitors in summer may spot humpback, minke and finback whales offshore, along with rafts of eider, scoter and old squaw ducks. Kittiwakes, gannets, black-bellied plovers, ruddy turnstones and purple sandpipers all can be seen at times roosting on Sail Rock. During spring and fall migration periods, hundreds of shorebirds congregate near the Park's western boundary at Lubec Flats and Carrying Place Cove (named for a canoe portage site that Native Americans used). Birding opportunities continue into winter, with sea ducks, murres, and razorbills offshore and frequent bald eagles.
An easy, one-mile round-trip walk leads to an unusual coastal plateau bog (also known as a heath) with sub-arctic and arctic plants rarely seen south of Canada. Shrubs predominate, particularly black crowberry, baked appleberry and Labrador tea, along with carnivorous plants such as pitcher plants and sundew. A second bog at the property's western boundary, Carrying Place Cove Bog, is a National Natural Landmark (http://www.nature.nps.gov/nnl/).
From Visit Maine
Park Type: Day Use
Activities:
Hiking, bird and wildlife watching, picnicking, lighthouse tour
Park Fees:
Adult Maine Resident - $3.00
Adult Non Resident - $4.00
Senior Non Resident - $1.00
Background:
In 1962, the State secured this exceptional property by purchasing much of the current acreage from several private landowners. As part of the Maine Lights Program, in which the Coast Guard transferred title to 28 Maine lighthouses to nonprofit organizations or agencies, the deed to West Quoddy Head Light went temporarily to the Island Institute and in 1998 to the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands. The Bureau now manages the light, one of 63 active lighthouses along the coast of Maine, with assistance from the nonprofit West Quoddy Light Keepers Association.
The lighthouse was originally fueled by sperm whale oil, later by lard oil (in the 1860s), then kerosene (around 1880), and finally electricity (in the 1890s). The light still shines (two white flashes every 15 seconds) 15-18 miles (24-29km.) out to sea through an 1858 third-order Fresnel lens that is 5.5 feet tall. The 15 red and white stripes, which make the station more visible in snow and fog, were added after the house and tower were reconstructed in 1858 (when the original stone tower was replaced by brick). The tower is closed but visitors can enjoy the former light keeper's quarters (staffed by West Quoddy Light Keepers volunteers).
From Maine Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Date Established?: 1962
Link to Park: [Web Link]
Additional Entrance Points: Not Listed
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