Cuckolds Light – Southport, ME

Cuckolds Light

The Cuckolds Light (+43° 46′ 48.00″, -69° 38′ 60.00″) is located off Cape Newagen, near the town of Southport. Its characteristic is 2 white flashes every minute. Its fog signal is 1 blast every 15 seconds.

A pair of dangerous ledges at the entrance to Boothbay Harbor apparently resembles a point of land on the Thames River in England, because that’s where they got their name, the Cuckolds. The Maine version of the Cuckolds is rumored to have been named by a transplanted Londoner.

Cuckolds Light

In 1874, a day beacon was installed on the Cuckolds. In 1891, a fog signal station was added. The station took the shape of a semicircular granite pier, 36 feet in diameter and 12 feet high, with a hollow center designed to protect the fresh water tanks and the storeroom. The fog signal was placed atop the building, taking the same shape, but with a smaller diameter. The curved portion of the building was positioned facing south so that the seas could flow around the building. A Daboll fog trumpet was established in 1892, with an attached two-story double dwelling, built with a heavy pine frame. It was bolted to the ledge. A bulkhead of hard pine, 12 feet high, ran along the east side of the dwelling to protect it from storms. A boathouse and boat slip were built on the northwest side of the island. In 1895, a 1,000-pound bell was added to the station to be used while the air pressure for the trumpet was building. In 1902, an oil-powered fog signal was installed.

Due to popular request from mariners, the government finally agreed to add a lighthouse to the Cuckolds in 1907. A small tower, consisting of only a workroom and lantern room, was added onto the roof of the existing fog signal house. A radio transmitter was added to the station in 1956.

Cuckolds Light

Light keeper Kelly Farrin wrote of his time on the Cuckolds (1969-1970): “The Cuckolds was about a mile or so offshore and was exposed to the open ocean. The waves washed on the shore relentlessly and were never silent. I measured the island with a tape measure and calculated it to be roughly 520 feet in circumference at the high water mark.”

The light was automated in late 1974. The light is now powered by solar panels. The old fourth-order Fresnel lens, a rare, American-made Fresnel from the MacBeth Glass Company of Pittsburgh, is now on display at the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland.

The Coast Guard demolished the keeper’s dwelling in 1977. The nonprofit organization, the Cuckolds Fog Signal and Light Station Council, now owns the lighthouse and plans to rebuild the dwelling.

The lighthouse is not open to the public and is best viewed from the water or air. Views are also possible from the public landing in Southport and via cruises out of Boothbay Harbor.
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