Boothbay Harbor, Maine
Est 1883
35 feet tall; light is 36 feet above water

Haunted lights? Legend says that, long before this light was built, ships were warned away from the spot by ghosts.

Jeremy's Lighthouse Guide #23

Located in Fisherman's Passage at the entrance to Boothbay Harbor, Ram Island has a rather spooky history. The history of aids to navigation here begins in the mid-19th century when a fisherman began hanging a lantern for the benefit of local mariners. This tradition was passed from one fisherman to another for many years.

During a period when there was no light on the island, locals talked of ghosts that warned vessels away from the dangerous rocks. It was said that on one unusually dark night a lone sailor was approaching when he saw a woman in white waving a lighted torch over her head. The man veered off just in time to avoid being dashed to pieces.

Ram Island Lighthouse was first lighted on November 5, 1883. The first keeper was Samuel John Cavanor, a native of Halifax, Nova Scotia who stayed at the light until his death in 1913. He lived on the island with his wife, May, and their five daughters, who attended school in Boothbay. Keeper Cavanor had a wooden leg, the result of an accident sustained during his time as a crewman on a lighthouse tender.

Ram Island Light was automated in 1965 and the last Coast Guard keepers were removed. In 1983 the keeper's house was slated to be destroyed when the Grand Banks Schooner Museum Trust stepped in to save the building. The Ram Island Preservation Society, part of the Grand Banks Schooner Museum Trust, has restored the house. In late 2002 they finished reconstructing the walkway from the shore to the lighthouse tower. The original had been destroyed years ago.

Ram Island Light can be seen from many of the tour boats leaving Boothbay Harbor and the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. Some say that on dark nights the specter of a shipwreck victim can be seen wandering the rocky island.

For more HISTORY of this lighthouse click here

Copyright 2004 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.