Accessibility: 
Geographic coordinates: 43° 37' 24" N 70° 12' 30" W
Nearest town: Cape Elizabeth. Located at the southern approach to Portland Harbor, Casco Bay.
Established: 1791. Present lighthouse built: 1791. Automated: 1989.
Height of tower: 80 feet. Height of focal plane: 101 feet.
Earlier optic: Fourth-order Fresnel lens (1855); Second-order Fresnel lens (1864); Fourth-order Fresnel lens (1883); Second-order Fresnel lens (1885); Present optic: DCB 224.
Characteristic: White flash every 4 seconds.
Fog signal: One blast every 15 seconds.
Portland was one of America’s busiest ports, but Maine had no lighthouses before seventy-four merchants petitioned the government for a light to mark the entrance to Portland Harbor. A stone lighthouse was completed in January 1791. President Washington appointed Captain Joseph Greenleaf, a Revolutionary War veteran, to be the first keeper.
Captain Joshua Strout, a native of Cape Elizabeth and a former sea captain, became keeper in 1869 for $620 per year. Strout’s wife, Mary, became assistant keeper at a salary of $480 per year. Joshua and Mary’s son Joseph became keeper in 1904, and he remained until 1928, ending fifty-nine years of the Strout family at Portland Head.
In 1910, Joseph Strout was quoted in the Lewiston Journal: “We’ve all got the lighthouse fever in our blood. . . . Father was named for Captain Joshua Freeman. He kept the light, too, Captain Freeman did, in the days when they burned whale oil and had sixteen lamps. Old Cap’n Freeman used to sit in a big armchair with a coil of rope near him so if a shipwreck came sudden he would be prepared.”
With the completion of Halfway Rock Light in Casco Bay in 1871, the Lighthouse Board felt that Portland Head Light had become less important. The tower was shortened by 20 feet in 1883, and the second-order lens was replaced by a weaker fourth-order lens. This met with many complaints. A year later, the tower was restored to its former height and a second-order lens was again installed. A new Victorian two-family keeper’s house was built in 1891.
On Christmas Eve, 1886, the British bark Annie C. Maguire ran ashore on the rocks at Portland Head. The Strouts helped all aboard get safely to shore.
The lighthouse is in Fort Williams Park, and the grounds are open all year from sunrise to sunset. There’s ample parking and plenty of room for picnicking or strolling. The Museum at Portland Head Light opened in the former keeper’s house in 1992. (Note: the lighthouse tower itself is not open to the public.) The museum is open daily from Memorial Day to the Friday following Columbus Day. From mid-April to Memorial Day and from Columbus Day to just before Christmas, the museum is open weekends only. Among the displays are a portion of the tower’s old second-order lens and a fifth-order lens from Squirrel Point. There’s also a gift shop in a former garage. For more information, contact the Museum at Portland Head Light, 1000 Shore Road, Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107. Phone 207-799-2661. Web site: www.portlandheadlight.com.
Maine’s oldest lighthouse is easily accessible by land. From I-295 in Portland, take Route 77 South to South Portland. Turn left on Broadway, then right on Cottage Road. Cottage Road becomes Shore Road at the Cape Elizabeth town line. Follow to the entrance to Fort Williams Park and the lighthouse. You can also take Route 1 North to Oak Hill in Scarborough. Turn right onto Route 207, and then turn left onto Route 77 North to Cape Elizabeth. Turn right at a flashing traffic light onto Shore Road and follow to Fort Williams Park.
Fascinating Fact 
Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who was born in Portland, was a frequent visitor to Portland Head Light in his younger years. His poem, “The Lighthouse,” was probably inspired by his many hours there.
You can get a view from the water from some of the cruises offered by the following companies: Lucky Catch Cruises (207-761-0941, www.luckycatch.com), Ophelia’s Odyssey (207-590-3145, captainsearles.tripod.com), and Casco Bay Lines (207-774-7871, www.cascobaylines.com). Portland Discovery (207-774-6498, www.portlanddiscovery.com) has a “Lighthouse Lovers Cruise” that includes Portland Head Light. Also, their “Land and Sea Tour” and “Portland Trolley Tour” both include a stop at Portland Head Light. New England Lighthouse Tours (603-431-9155, www.newenglandlighthousetours.com), based in Portsmouth, NH, offers van trips to this lighthouse and others.
