Notes:
(1) A sparkplug style Lighthouse was built to mark hazardous Spring Point Ledge on the west side of the main channel into Portland Harbor.

      For years, numerous ships were stranded on the ledge and local ship owners petitioned the government to build a Lighthouse.  In 1891, petitions from seven steamship companies influenced the Lighthouse Board to erect a Lighthouse on the ledge.  In 1895, Congress appropriated $20,000 to begin construction of a Fifth-order Lighthouse.

      In 1896, Thomas Dwyer of New York City was awarded the contract to construct a standard design cylindrical cast-iron caisson “sparkplug” style Lighthouse.  After 10 months of construction, Keeper William A. Lane first lit the kerosene lamp on May 24, 1897.  The Fifth-order Fresnel lens marks the entrance into Portland Harbor by exhibiting a narrow (331° - 337°) arc of white light to a mariner properly positioned in the shipping channel.  The Light exhibits two red sectors to ships outside of the fairway.

      The basement of the Lighthouse has a cistern, a oil room with a 239-gallon kerosene tank, and a storeroom.  The Tower contained four levels, two of the levels were living quarters.  A Fog Bell was mounted to the side of the tower and sounded a double blow every 12-seconds by a striking clockwork mechanism using 800-pounds of weights.  The original Fog Bell is located next to the modern electronic Fog Horn on the Lighthouse Gallery.

      Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse was built when Portland was Canada’s Winter Port and the Canadian economy expanded rapidly in the late 19th century due to primarily exporting Canadian grain from Portland to Europe.

      In 1934, both the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse and neighboring Portland Breakwater Lighthouse were converted to electricity and automated.  The Light Keeper of Spring Point Ledge Light tended both Lighthouses.

      From 1950 to 1951, a 900-feet Breakwater was constructed by Army Corps of Engineers to connect the Lighthouse to the mainland.

      In 1998, the Portland Harbor Museum, located within Fort Preble near the granite jetty leading to the Lighthouse, established the Spring Point Ledge Light Trust to acquire ownership of the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse under the Maine Lights Program.  On June 20, 1998, the U. S. Coast Guard deeded the Lighthouse to the Spring Point Ledge Light Trust to maintain the structure.
The U. S. Coast Guard continues the maintenance of the light and electronic fog signal as an active aid to navigation.

      On May 22, 1999, Spring Point Ledge Light was opened to the public for the first time by the Spring Point Ledge Light Trust. Occasional open houses are held each summer to raise funds for restoring and maintaining the Lighthouse.

      After Spring Point Ledge Light Trust raised most of the $52,000 funds, work began on May 24, 2004 to replace the lower level corroded iron canopy over the veranda of the “sparkplug” style Lighthouse and 32 steel panels were fabricated, coated, and installed with stainless steel bolts that maintained the appearance of the original riveted construction.  Atlantic Mechanical Inc. of Wiscasset, Maine completed the restoration in July 2004.

(2) White from 331° to 337° covers fairway entrance, white from 074° to 288°; red in intervening sectors.
Lighted throughout 24 hours. Emergency light of reduced intensity when main light is extinguished.

(3) Directions From Portland:
US-1A (West Commercial St), Turn right onto ME 77 over the Casco Bay Bridge into South Portland,
Turn Left onto Broadway and travel to the end (stop sign) at Fort Road,
Travel Fort Road through the Southern Maine Technical College campus to the end at the waterfront,
The Portland Harbor Museum is on your right and the Lighthouse can viewed from the museum or visited by walking on the 900-foot breakwater.