Notes:
(1) Whaleback Lighthouse (also named Whaleback Ledge Light) was built on Whaleback Ledge in Kittery, Maine to mark the entrance of the main shipping channel to the Piscataqua River and Portsmouth Harbor.

   In 1820*, a lighthouse was built on the Northeast side of Portsmouth Harbor at the mouth of the Piscataqua River to mark the hazardous Whaleback Reef located 1,000 yards Southwest of Gerrish Island.  The first Lighthouse was destroyed by winter storms.

   In addition to coastal trading and local fishing, Portsmouth Harbor was important to our new nation when President Thomas Jefferson created Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on June 17, 1800.  According to the new Navy, this was the best place to build American warships on the New England coastline.

   In 1829, President Andrew Jackson authorized a new tower and a 48-feet high stone Lighthouse was completed in 1831.  Light Keepers noted that new foundation and tower was poorly constructed in 1837.  The tower leaked and was improperly bolted to the ledge.  Somehow, the Lighthouse continue to withstand the powerful ocean winter storms for 40 years despite reinforcing iron buckles breaking away.

   In 1855, the Light was refitted with a Fourth-order Fresnel lens and a fog bell and bell tower was installed shortly after the shipwreck of the British schooner, Rouser, on February 15, 1863.  The bell was struck by machinery four times per minute.

   In 1869, cracks had developed in the foundation and tower caused by severe winter storms.  A report determined that “The station should be rebuilt as soon as possible” and the present 75-feet high conical granite Tower was built in 1872.  The new Tower was erected on a cylindrical gray granite pier foundation firmly bolted to the ledge.  The new Lighthouse was constructed with granite ashlar dovetailed and interlocked to resist the powerful forces of the wind and waves.  The dovetailed construction technique has been used in several American Wave-Swept Lighthouses since 1855 when Minots Ledge Light (Cohasset Rocks, Massachusetts) was designed by General Joseph G. Totten of the Lighthouse Board.  His design was based on England’s Eddystone Lighthouse built using large interlocking granite blocks to form a conical tower.

   The old Tower served as a red fog signal house for a new Third-class Daboll fog trumpet after the Lantern was removed and the new Whaleback Lighthouse was completed.  The old Tower was destroyed by the great blizzard of March 1888.

   Currently, Portsmouth Naval shipyard is important to America’s defense in the maintenance, modernization, and refueling of nuclear powered submarines.

*Whaleback Light may be the first Lighthouse to be erected in the State of Maine. Eight Lighthouses were constructed in Massachusetts and ceded to Maine on March 15, 1820:

(2) [2 White Flashes (0.1s fl 1.4s ec.; 0.1s fl 8.4s ec) every 10 seconds]  The Light Operates continuously 24 hours.  Emergency light of reduced intensity when main light is extinguished.

(3) Whaleback Lighthouse is best viewed by a Lighthouse cruise provided by several Cruise companies:
     Isles of Shoals Steamship Co.
     A 4-hour Scenic Lighthouse Cruise with views of Portsmouth Harbor Light, Whaleback Light,
     White Island Light, Boon Island Light, and Cape Neddick Light.

     Portsmouth Harbor Cruises
     Isles of Shoals Cruise in sight of Portsmouth Harbor Light, Whaleback Light, and White Island Light.

From the Mainland, Whaleback Light is best viewed from Fort Foster Park (Gerrish Island, south of Kittery Point, Maine).
Directions from Kittery Point, Maine: Route 103 North, Turn Right onto Chauncey Creek Road, Turn Right onto Gerrish Island Lane, and after the bridge, turn Right onto Pocahontas Road to the entrance of Fort Foster which is open daily during the summer.

The Lighthouse can also be viewed from Fort Stark (Newcastle, New Hampshire), Fort Constitution (Newcastle, New Hampshire), and a distant view from Fort McClary (Kittery, Maine).

Pete Payettes’ web site has a map showing the locations of the Forts of Portsmouth Harbor.

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