Ram Island Lighthouse
by Ben Prepelka
Title
Ram Island Lighthouse
Artist
Ben Prepelka
Medium
Photograph
Description
Ram Island, located near the entrance of Maine's Portland Harbor on the western end of Casco Bay, has always been a dangerous obstacle for maritime traffic. The island and its rock ledges become submerged with every approaching high tide, magnifying the problem. Just as it takes years of traffic accidents at a dangerous intersection to institute a DOT study, it had taken years for the Federal Government to place a navigational aid on Ram Island.
The submerged island also presented some challenges during lighthouse construction. The huge granite blocks were placed at low tide and required a year long effort to complete assembly of the tower. Finally the tower was ready for the 26,000 pound lantern-room in 1905. The lightkeepers, confined to living in the tower, lead a Spartan life and their only contact with the outside world was by radio. The lighthouse, without any significant changes for nearly 100 years, was finally automated in 1958 and converted to solar power in 2001.
Uploaded
September 29th, 2016
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Viewed 161 Times - Last Visitor from Wilmington, DE on 04/21/2024 at 7:47 PM
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