Accessibility: 
Geographic coordinates: 44° 48' 55" N 66° 57' 04" W
Nearest town: Lubec. Located at the easternmost point of the United States, on the west side of the southern entrance to Quoddy Roads.
Established: 1808. Present lighthouse built: 1858. Automated: 1988.
Height of tower: 49 feet. Height of focal plane: 83 feet.
Optic: Third-order Fresnel lens.
Characteristic: White flash every 6 seconds.
Fog signal: Two blasts every 30 seconds.
In 1806, a group of concerned citizens chose West Quoddy Head as a suitable place for a lighthouse to help mariners entering Quoddy Roads, between the mainland and Campobello Island. The first rubblestone lighthouse on the site was built two years later by order of President Thomas Jefferson. The first keeper was Thomas Dexter, at a salary of $250 per year. The extant brick tower and accompanying dwelling were erected in 1858.
It’s been claimed that fog is manufactured in the Bay of Fundy. Keeper Arthur Marston, who was at West Quoddy in the 1920s, was once asked if the foghorn kept him awake. He answered, “Only when it stops!”
The keepers’ children had to walk about two miles to school in Lubec. One day in the 1920s, Marston’s children found some lumber that had washed ashore. One of the boys took the wood and built a cabin in the woods that long served as a meeting place for local children and was still standing into the 1990s.
In 1998, under the Maine Lights Program, the station became the property of the state of Maine. The lighthouse grounds are now part of Quoddy Head State Park. The grounds are open to the public, and trails through the park wind along the shore and past the lighthouse.
SIDE TRIP: West Quoddy Gifts
The easternmost gift shop in the United States features clothing, specialty foods, jewelry, toys, artwork, collectibles, books, and much more. There are many gifts depicting West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, including clothing with exclusive designs. The shop is easy to find on the road to West Quoddy Head State Park and the lighthouse.
West Quoddy Gifts
16 Loon Lane
Lubec, ME 04652
Phone: 1-866-218-3253
Web site: www.westquoddygifts.com
Fascinating Fact 
At one time, West Quoddy Head had a fog cannon to warn mariners away from dangerous Sail Rocks. The station received one of the nation’s first fog bells in 1820.
A local group, the West Quoddy Head Light Keepers Association (South Lubec Road, P.O. Box 378, Lubec, ME 04652. Phone: 207-733-2180. Web site: www.westquoddy.com), was formed to enhance the experience of visitors with exhibits and displays. A seasonal visitor center is now open in the former keeper’s house. The center is open daily from Memorial Day to mid-October. (The lighthouse tower is not open to the public.)
SIDE TRIP: Campobello Island
While you’re in the Lubec area doing some lighthouse hunting, you’ll probably want to make the short drive across the Roosevelt International Bridge to Campobello Island, New Brunswick. (Bring your passport.) Just over the bridge on the left, you’ll see the pretty Mulholland Lighthouse. One of the island’s main attractions is the Roosevelt Campobello International Park, the summer home of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His thirty-four-room residence is preserved as a memorial and as a symbol of the close friendship between Canada and the United States.
At the eastern tip of Campobello is the Head Harbour Lighthouse, also known as East Quoddy Head Light. This was one of the earliest Canadian light stations and the second in the area after Maine’s West Quoddy Head Light. A nonprofit group, the Friends of the Head Harbour Lightstation, is working to preserve this picturesque station.
To reach Head Harbour Lighthouse after crossing onto the island, continue for 2.5 miles. Bear right at a fork onto NM Route 774 North. Continue on this road for about seven miles until you reach a dirt road and a parking area for the lighthouse. The outcropping becomes an island at high tide. From about an hour before to an hour after low tide, access is possible via a series of stairs. Visitors should take care to note the tide situation in order to avoid being stranded at the station for hours.
Roosevelt Campobello International Park. Phone: 506-752-2922. Web site: www.fdr.net.
Friends of the Head Harbour Lightstation
P.O. Box 403, Route 774
Wilson’s Beach, N.B. E5E 1Y2 Canada, or
P.O. Box 486
Lubec, ME, 04652
Web site: www.campobello.com/lighthouse/
