Lighthouse, Pemaquid Point, Maine 1502

Lighthouse, Pemaquid Point, Maine 1502

"Lighthouse, Pemaquid Point, Maine 1502" Lighthouse, Pemaquid Point, Maine Pemaquid is said to derive from an Abenaki word for "situated far out." Pemaquid light station is at the far tip of a peninsula between entrances to Muscongus Bay and Johns Bay. In May 1826 Congress approved funds for a lighthouse. Built, the stone tower and keeper's house deteriorated rapidly, possibly because the builder mixed salt water with his mortar. The 1835 contract for a new lighthouse stipulated that salt water was not to be used. The tower, now some 180 years old, was modified in 1856, with a new dwelling completed the next year. Isaac Dunn of Bath was the first keeper. He patented a system to keep lamp oil from congealing in cold weather, a persistent challenge for lighthouse keepers. Clarence Marr, son and brother of keepers at Hendricks Head Light, was keeper at Pemaquid during the gale of September 16, 1903 when thirteen crew members of the fishing schooner George F. Edmunds drowned when driven into rocks and the captain of the schooner Sadie and Lillie lost his life. The Fisherman's Museum is now in the keeper's house, owned by the Town of Bristol. The Friends of Pemaquid Lighthouse manage the tower and offer tours. The light's image was on the 2003 Maine state quarter.