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Geographic coordinates: 44° 14' 29" N 68° 11' 56" W
Nearest town: Islesford. Located in the Cranberry Islands, about 4 miles southeast of Mount Desert Island.
Established: 1828. Present lighthouse built: 1855. Automated: 1966. Deactivated: ca. 2002.
Height of tower: 43 feet. Height of focal plane: 105 feet.
Previous optic: Fourth-order Fresnel lens. Present optic: none.
Baker Island, about 123 acres, is one of five islands that make up the Cranberry Isles. Because of dangerous ledges and a sandbar nearby, and to help mark the western approach to Frenchman Bay, a lighthouse was established on Baker Island in 1828. The first lighthouse was a wooden tower built on the highest point on the island.
William and Hannah Gilley took possession of Baker Island in the early 1800s. When the lighthouse was built, William Gilley was appointed keeper at a salary of $350 per year. Gilley remained keeper until 1848 when he was dismissed for not being a member of the party that had come into power, the Whigs. Two of Gilley’s sons harassed the succeeding keepers of the light until the government tried to evict the Gilley family from the island. The federal government eventually won the right to 19 acres for the light station and the necessary right-of-way, while the Gilley heirs retained the rest of the island.
The extant brick tower was built in 1855. In 1903, an extra layer of brick was added to the tower. The light station buildings are now owned by the Park Service as part of Acadia National Park. There has been some discussion of utilizing the former keeper’s house as an island museum.
Fascinating Fact 
A keeper’s wife wrote in 1953: “Hope the fog goes away pretty soon so we’ll know there are other people on this good earth besides ourselves.”
You can visit Baker Island on tours leaving from Bar Harbor, narrated by an Acadia National Park naturalist. The Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company also offers a “Lighthouse and Park Tour” that includes a view of Baker Island, but the tall trees make it very difficult to photograph the tower from the water. For information on both tours, contact the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company (207-288-9800, www.barharborwhales.com). You can also arrange a trip with Sea Venture Custom Boat Tours (207-288-3355, www.svboattours.com) in Bar Harbor to see this and other area lighthouses.
