Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse – Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse

In 1811, a 50-foot, stone, black and white, pyramidal day beacon was erected at Cape Elizabeth to help mark the entrance to Portland harbor. This stone marker was torn down in 1828 and replaced by a pair of 65-foot tall, rubblestone lighthouses. These two lights served as range lights, meaning that navigators would line them up and then steer on them in order to stay on course. Fresnel lenses were installed in the towers in 1855.

These two landmarks were replaced in 1874 by 67-foot, cast-iron towers. Second-order Fresnel lenses were installed in both lights.

In 1924, the government changed all twin light stations to single lights and the west light was extinguished. The east light was electrified.

Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse

The light was automated in 1963, and the second-order Fresnel lens was removed in 1994. The lens is now on display in the Cape Elizabeth Town Hall.

Cape Elizabeth Light (+43° 33′ 56.00″, -70° 12′ 0.00″) remains an active aid to navigation, with a characteristic of 4 white flashes every 15 seconds and a fog signal of 2 blasts every minute.

Cape Elizabeth Light was the site of one of the most dramatic and heroic lifesaving feats to ever happen at an American lighthouse. Marcus Hannah was the light keeper in 1885 when one of the worse storms in history hit the harbor. Hanna had the misfortune of suffering from a terrible cold that night, but he continued to sound the fog whistle all night despite his exhaustion. When the assistant keeper relieved Hanna in the morning, Hanna had to crawl through snowdrifts just to get back to his house. Not long after he fell asleep, his wife woke him to tell him that there was a schooner aground on Dyer’s Ledge near the fog signal building.

Cape Elizabeth Light

Neither Hanna nor his assistant had seen the vessel due to the poor visibility from the storm. When Hanna reached the vessel, the Australia out of Boothbay, only two crew members were left alive. These two men had climbed to the rigging and were nearly frozen to death. Hanna began trying to throw a line to the men, while his wife alerted neighbors. He could not get a line to them in the wind, so he waded waist-deep into the freezing January Atlantic in order to get a line to one of the crewman, a man named Irving Pierce. Pierce tied the line around himself and Hanna heroically pulled the frozen man through the waves and over the rocks to shore. Then Hanna again managed to land the line on the Australia. The other crewman, William Kellar, also tied the rope around himself, but Hanna ran out of strength as he tried to pull him ashore. Just then the assistant keeper and two neighbors arrived and helped Hanna pull the man in. Both men survived the harrowing experience and six months later, Hanna received a gold lifesaving medal for “heroism involving great peril to his life.” In 1997, the Coast Guard christened a new, 175-foot buoy tender the Marcus Hanna in honor of this local hero.

The lighthouse, dwelling and grounds are not open to the public. Viewing is possible at the end of Two Lights Road, but parking can be difficult during peak months.

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