Pond Island Light
Oct. 1, 2019
Pond Island Light, Kennebec River, Maine
Pond Island Light, Kennebec River, Maine
Pond Island Light, Kennebec River, Maine
Built in 1821.
POND ISLAND LIGHT
KENNEBEC RIVER ENTRANCE WEST SIDE
Station Established: 1821
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1855
Operational? YES
Automated? YES 1963
Deactivated: n/a
Foundation Materials: GRANITE BLOCKS
Construction Materials: BRICK
Tower Shape: CYLINDRICAL
Markings/Pattern: WHITE W/BLACK TRIM
Relationship to Other Structure: SEPARATE
Original Lens: FIFTH ORDER
Historical Information:
- 1821 – The first lighthouse, a conical stone tower, was built.
- 1849 – Vessel Hanover ran into sand bar near the lighthouse and sank with all hands on board. Only a dog survived.
- 1855 – Lighthouse rebuilt as a cylindrical brick tower. 5th order Fresnel lens installed.
- 1869 – Fog bell tower and striking mechanism destroyed in a storm.
- 1963 – Lighthouse automated, Fresnel lens replaced by modern lens. Keeper’s house, oil house, fog signal building and boathouse all were dismantled.
- Currently the island serves as a bird sanctuary by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Keepers:
- S. L. Rodgers (c. 1820s)
- Joseph Rogers( c. 1820s)
- David Spinney (1837?-1849)
- Octavius Stevens (1849)
- Ebenezer Sewell (1849-1852)
- Thomas Spinney (c. 1852-1861)
- William G. Todd (1867-1870)
- Washington Oliver (1871-1877)
- Charles S. Brown (1878-?)
- Edwin Wyman (?-1889)
- Isaac Morrison (1889-c. 1903)
- Napoleon B. Fickett (c. 1926-1948)
- Harvey Lamson (c. 1948-1950)
- Ronald D. Howard (?-1960)
Researched and written by Marie Vincent, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.