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Cuckold Ledges
Near Southport, Maine.
Est 1892 as a fog signal station
Lighthouse built in 1907.
48 feet with 59 foot focal plane
Jeremy’s Lighthouse Guide #45
The name Cuckolds, given to a pair of treacherous ledges at the entrance to Boothbay
Harbor, is apparently after a point of land on the Thames River in London that
was granted to a London man to assuage his anger after King John had an affair
with his wife. The Cuckolds in Maine may have been named by a transplanted Londoner.
In 1892 funds were appropriated for the building of a fog signal station on the
Cuckolds. A steam-driven Daboll fog trumpet and keeper's house were established
for about $25,000. Local mariners believed a lighthouse was called for and the
government agreed in 1907.
The Cuckolds was too small to build a separate lighthouse, so a small tower was
built on the roof of the signal house. An attached two-story keeper's dwelling
was also built.
In January 1933 a storm swept over the Cuckolds and destroyed the belongings
of Keeper Harold Seavey, who was reimbursed in full by the Department of Commerce.
Another keeper's wife said she was sewing near a second-story window one August
day when a "freak wave" poured through the window, damaging much of the furniture.
Coast Guardsman Kelly Farrin lived with his wife at the Cuckolds for two years,
1969-1970. He shares many of his colorful memories on his website.
The Cuckolds was automated in 1975. Its fourth order Fresnel lens is now on display
at the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland. The lens is a rare American-made Fresnel
lens from the MacBeth Glass Company of Pittsburgh.
A local coalition has formed to apply for ownership of the lighthouse and to
care for it in the future, while the flashing white light will still be maintained
by the Coast Guard as an active aid to navigation. It can be seen from many of
the excursion boats out of Boothbay Harbor and from a public landing pier at Cape
Newagen.
For more HISTORY of the lighthouse visit Lighthouse.cc
Copyright 2005 by Jeremy D'Entremont,New England Lighthouses
Photos are the property of the author and may not be used without permission.
Photos above from Jeremy D'Entremont. |
