This is the fourth and final blog of exploring Portland, Maine, and this one is about another lighthouse that can be seen from the more famous Portland Head Light (that was the subject of yesterday's blog). Today you'll learn all about Ram Island Light!
(Photo of Ram Island Light, zoomed from the Portland Head Light). Credit: R.G.)
FINDING THE LIGHTHOUSE - When we visited the Portland Head Light, we didn't expect to see another lighthouse so close to it, but in the distance and out into the bay, there it was. It wasn't until when I was writing these blogs that I learned it was the Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse. The first photo was zoomed in using my cell phone camera. The second photo is actually how it looked from the Portland Head Light, to give you an idea about how far away it is from the Head Light.
(Photo of Ram Island Light, as seen from the Portland Head Light. Credit: R.G.)
BUILDING THE LIGHTHOUSE - I learned that most of "Ram Island" was submerged whenever it was not low tide, which is why there were multiple shipwrecks on it. After 1900, the state decided to ask for federal assistance to build a lighthouse there. It was finally working in 1905, and was lit by a kerosene lamp. If you look at the zoomed in photo I took you can see the remnants of a dock that was built there.
I don't have the details of the construction, but I'm sure they are somewhere on-line. By 1959, the lighthouse was automated.
FAST FACTS - Ram Island Ledge Light is a lighthouse off Cape Elizabeth, Maine, marking the northern end of the main channel leading the harbor of Portland, Maine. It is over 75 feet tall, and was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
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