Browns Head Light

Browns Head Light is a lighthouse in Vinalhaven, Maine. Established in 1832, it is an active aid to navigation, marking the southern side of the western entrance to the Fox Island Thoroughfare, a busy strait separating Vinalhaven Island from North Haven. The present lighthouse was built in 1857; and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as "Browns Head Light Station" on January 27, 1983.[3]

Browns Head Light
LocationBrowns Head, Vinalhaven, Maine
Coordinates44°6′42.352″N 68°54′34.186″W
Year first constructed1832
Year first lit1857 (current structure)
Automated1987
Tower shapeCylindrical
Markings / patternWhite
Tower height6 metre 
Focal height39 feet (12 m)
Range14 nautical miles (26 km; 16 mi) & 11 nautical miles (20 km; 13 mi)
CharacteristicF W with 2 R sectors
Fog signalHORN: 1 every 10s
USCG number1-3965[1][2]
Heritageplace listed on the National Register of Historic Places 
Browns Head Light Station
Built1857 (1857)
NRHP reference No.83000460[3]
Added to NRHPJanuary 27, 1983

Description and history

The Maine town of Vinalhaven occupies a large eponymous island in the south center of Penobscot Bay. The island is studded with inlets and peninsulas, and is just south of North Haven, the other major island of the Fox Islands group, from which it is separated by the Fox Island Thoroughfare. Browns Head is a promontory near the western entrance to the Thoroughfare, and the lighthouse is located on its western shore. The lighthouse is a cylindrical granite structure with a six-sided lantern house, 18 feet (5.5 m) in height, standing with its light about 37 feet (11 m) above sea level. The light has a range of 15 miles (24 km). It is connected by a short covered passageway to the keeper's house, a 1-1/2 story wood frame structure.[4]

A light station first went into operation at this location in 1832. The present tower dates to 1857, and was originally equipped with a fifth-order Fresnel lens. The light was automated in 1987, and remains an active aid to navigation.[5] The light is a well-preserved example of a pre-Civil War lighthouse complex.[4]

Folk singer John McCutcheon has a song entitled Old Brown's Head Light.

See also

References
  1. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maine". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-08-05. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
  2. United States Coast Guard (2009). Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. p. 36.
  3. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  4. "NRHP nomination for Browns Head Light Station". National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  5. "Maine Lighthouses". US Coast Guard. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
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