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Geographic coordinates: 43° 50' 12" N 69° 30' 21" W
Nearest town: Bristol. Located at the west side of the entrance to Muscongus Bay.
Established: 1827. Present lighthouse built: 1835. Automated: 1934.
Height of tower: 38 feet. Height of focal plane: 79 feet.
Optic: Fourth-order Fresnel lens.
Characteristic: White flash every 6 seconds.
Congress appropriated $4,000 for the building of a lighthouse at Pemaquid Point in 1826. Isaac Dunham of Bath, later a keeper at Minot’s Ledge Light, was the first keeper at $350 per year. The extant 38-foot stone tower was built in 1835. Pemaquid Point was usually not difficult to reach by land, but there was no landing place for vessels. Lighthouse tenders had to anchor on the rocks to bring supplies, making the lighthouse one of the least favorite of tender crews.
On September 16, 1903, when Clarence Marr was keeper, the fishing schooner George F. Edmunds was driven by a strong gust into the rocks near Pemaquid Point and was dashed to pieces. The captain and thirteen crewmembers died in the wreck; only two were saved.
After the light was automated, the surrounding property became the town of Bristol’s Lighthouse Park, and the keeper’s house was converted into the Fishermen’s Museum (Pemaquid Point Road, New Harbor, Maine 04554. Phone: 207-677-2494. Web site: www.pemaquidlighthouse.com). The museum opened in 1972 and has been operated since then by volunteers from the local area. The museum houses exhibits on the history of the local fishing and lobstering industries, as well as pictures of all the lighthouses on the Maine coast and a fourth-order Fresnel lens from Baker Island. The museum is open seven days a week in the summer for a small parking fee. A second floor apartment in the keeper’s house is available for rent by the week; call Newcastle Square Vacation Rentals at 207-563-6500 for details.
In 2000, the lighthouse tower was licensed by the Coast Guard to the American Lighthouse Foundation (207-594-4174, www.lighthousefoundation.org). Volunteers of the Friends of Pemaquid Point Lighthouse (P.O. Box 353, Bristol, ME 04539-0353), a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, open the tower in season (Memorial Day to Columbus Day) to the public every afternoon from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. There is no charge to climb the tower, but donations are welcomed.
In February 2007, a $50,000 grant from Lowe’s and the National Trust for Historic Preservation helped the American Lighthouse Foundation complete a $105,400 restoration of the tower. The work took place during the summer of 2007, leaving the lighthouse in its best condition in many years. More recently, restoration has also been completed on the interior of the tower.
Fascinating Fact 
This lighthouse is featured on the Maine state quarter, unveiled at a ceremony on June 9, 2003.
Pemaquid Point is one of the most visited attractions of the Maine coast. To reach the lighthouse from the south on Route 1, take the Damariscotta exit. Continue through Damariscotta’s business district, and then turn right onto Route 129/130. Continue on Route 130 for 15 miles until you reach the parking area. From the north on Route 1, turn left onto Route 32 in Waldoboro and continue for 18 miles. Route 32 ends at Route 130; go left on Route 130 and travel three miles until you reach the parking area. You can also visit the Seagull Shop next door for a meal and some gift shopping.
