Notes:
(1) In 1806, President Thomas Jefferson authorized the construction of a Lighthouse at West Quoddy Head to guide ships through the Quoddy Narrows and to mark Sail Rock, a hazardous rock ledge located 1,300-feet off-shore.  By 1808, a rubblestone Lighthouse was built on the eastern-most point* of the United States mainland exhibiting a Fixed White Light illuminated by Oil Lamps 90-feet above sea level with a visible range of 7 leagues (18 nautical miles) in clear weather.


      West Quoddy Head overlooks Liberty Point on Campobello Island and Grand Manan Island across the Grand Manan Channel in the Bay of Fundy.  Due to the constricted passage, strong tidal currents race through the Quoddy Narrows with a average tidal range of 18-feet between the changing tides.  A Lighthouse built at the headland was important to the safety of fishing and trading vessels navigating these perilous waters by wind power during the early 1800’s.

      Due to the dense fog from the Bay of Fundy nearby, West Quoddy Head Light was equipped with a fog cannon to alert mariners of the dangerous Sail Rock located southeast of the tower.  In 1820, the first Fog Bell was installed at the Lighthouse and numerous fog bells were tried to improve the distance of the signal offshore.  A Daboll trumpet fog whistle was installed in 1869.  The current Fog signal is an automated horn activated by a Fog Sensor.

      In 1842, Keeper Alfred Godfrey recommended removing the oil lamps facing land in order to save oil.  A third of the oil lamps were removed to restrict the coverage of light to 240 degrees out to sea.

      In 1858, the current 49-feet high brick Tower was constructed on a 34-feet cliff exhibiting a Fixed White Light illuminated by a Third-order Fresnel lens 83-feet above sea level.  A 1-1/2 story Victorian Keeper’s house was also built and shortly after the Tower was painted with 8 red and 7 white horizontal stripes.  The bright red and white Day-mark follows a Canadian practice of painting lighthouses red, or partially red, to make them stand out against a background of snow or fog.  Canadian lighthouses also use brightly red painted lanterns for contrast with the surrounding landscape.  Likewise, West Quoddy Head Lighthouse has a red dome and ventilator on top of the lantern room.

      In 1988, the Lighthouse was automated and is one of the few active American Lighthouses to use its original Fresnel Lens (most automated Lighthouses were refitted with modern plastic optics).  Since 1988, the Light Station has been a site within Quoddy Head State Park.

      On July 30, 2005, West Quoddy Head Light Keepers Association and the Maine Department of Conservation dedicated the “Easternmost Point of land in the continental United States, West Quoddy Head, Lubec, Maine, 44° 48.9' N, 66° 57.1' W” with a 3,000-pound granite marker located nearby the Lighthouse Tower.

* As with most Lighthouses, the Light Station is named for a geographic location. The “west” in West Quoddy Head Light refers to the Lighthouse located west of East Quoddy Lighthouse on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada.  There are 12 Lighthouses in the Quoddy Loop from New Brunswick, Canada to Lubec, Maine.  Quoddy is a Mi’kmaq (alternatively spelled as Micmac) Indian word meaning “a piece of favorable land.”

      Therefore, West Quoddy Head was a favorable headland for a Lighthouse aiding shipping approaching the entrance to the Quoddy Narrows between the U.S. mainland and the Canadian Campobello Island.

      Interestingly, the original name of West Quoddy Head Light was Passamaquoddy Light as noted by Winslow Lewis in his 1817 Description of the Lighthouses.  Passamaquoddy is the name of a northern Maine Indian tribe and means “plenty of pollock.”  During the American Revolution, the Passamaquoddy Indians were allies of the American Colonists against the British.

(2) [Two white flashes (2s fl 2s ec.; 2s fl 9s ec.) every 15 secs]  Lighted throughout 24 hours.  Emergency light of reduced intensity when main light is extinguished.

(3) In 1820, A Fog Bell replaced the Fog Cannon. This was the First appropriation of a Fog Bell near a Lighthouse.

(4) Quoddy Head State Park is day use park only that is open from May 15 to October 15 and visitors have access to Lighthouse grounds and the museum & visitor center in the Keeper’s house.  The Light Tower is closed to the public.  For more information, call (207) 733-0911.

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