Accessibility: 
Geographic coordinates: 45° 09' 46" N 67° 13' 39" W
Nearest city: Calais. Located on the south side of the St. Croix River.
Established: 1910. Present lighthouse built: 1910. Automated: 1969.
Height of tower: 25 feet. Height of focal plane: 32 feet.
Earlier optic: Fourth-order Fresnel lens. Present optic: 250 mm.
Characteristic: 3 seconds green alternating with 3 seconds of darkness.
The city of Calais, midway between the equator and the North Pole, was an important lumber port in the nineteenth century. Beginning in 1892, a lantern displayed from a tree on the American side of the St. Croix River, near Calais, served local navigation. Complaints led to the construction of a brick lighthouse in 1910. The extant keeper’s house was also built in 1910.
SIDE TRIP: Saint Croix Island International Historic Site
At this beautiful site, you can learn about the events that took place during the settlement on Saint Croix Island, scene of one of the earliest European settlements in North America. Seventy-nine members of the French expedition passed the severe winter of 1604–05 on the island; thirty-five of them died and were buried in a small cemetery on the island. In spring 1605, the survivors went on to found the settlement of Port Royal, Nova Scotia.
From mid-June through August 31, an interpretive ranger is stationed at the mainland site, 8 miles south of Calais, Maine, on Route 1. When you look at Saint Croix Island from the mainland, you can see a boathouse that’s left from the island’s light station, established in 1857. The lighthouse burned down in 1976.
Saint Croix Island International Historic Site
c/o Acadia National Park
P.O. Box 177
Bar Harbor, ME 04609-0177
Phone: 207-288-3338
Web site: www.nps.gov/sacr/
Under the Maine Lights Program, the lighthouse was transferred to the St. Croix Historical Society (P.O. Box 242, Calais, ME 04619. Web site: www.stcroixhistorical.org) in 1998.
The keeper’s house and other buildings are privately owned, meaning the grounds are not open to the public. The lighthouse can be viewed from the St. Croix River View Rest Area on Route 1 in Calais. The rest area is announced by a Rest Area 1,500 ft sign from the south. The view is largely obscured by trees in summer.
Fascinating Fact 
The interior of the tower is lined with white ceramic-faced brick, a distinction shared with very few lighthouses.
