Owls Head Light_Maine

A Faithful Dog Named Spot -

Spot was a springer spaniel that belonged to the family of Lightkeeper Gus Hamor (1930-1945) at Owl's Head Light. Daughters Millie and Pauline taught the dog to pull on the rope connected to the fog bell at the Lightkeepers residence. The bell was located next to the lightkeepr's residence and some 60 feet below the actual light tower that sat up on the hill. Whenever the dog would hear a boat draw near when it was foggy, would incessantly ring that fog bell until he could hear a return horn from the vessel. Mariners later told stories of narrowingly escaping running aground on the rocks because of hearing the constant bell ringing from the fog bell. Spot is buried on site, close to the original bell's location.

The original Owl's Head Light was a 15 foot high rubblestone tower originally built in 1825 upon authorization from then President John Quincy Adams in 1824. It is located on top of a 80 foot high (above sea level) wooded rocky hill on the western shore of Penobscot Bay just south of the harbor entrance to Rockland Maine. In 1852 a newer, hardened brick cylindrical tower with a granite foundation was built to an overall height of just 26 feet. The initial array of oil lamps and reflectors were replaced with a fourth order Fresnel lens in 1856. The tower was short since it sat atop a 80 foot high hill, and the lens and light in the tower, another 20 feet higher, was some 100 feet above sea level. It could still be seen 16 NM out to sea. An oil house and generator house were built on site in 1894 as was a life-saving boat house located on the northwest side beach down from the keepers quarters. Several different types of bells and horns had been used on the grounds over the years but in 1902 the last bell tower was built. In later years, lightkeepers that followed Hamor still kept a smaller bell near the porch of the residence, perhaps in tribute to Spot.

In 1989 the light tower was automated and received extensive renovation in 2010 to bring it back to it's 1852 glory days. The keeper's quarters are now licensed to the American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) which manages and cares for over 20 lighthouses throughout New England. The light tower is leased to the ALF but still under operational control of the U.S. Coast Guard as an active navigational aid.

The Owl's Head Light has been published in Coastal Living Magazine as the most haunted lighthouse in New England. It was also featured on the Travel Channel. 

This photograph was taken just before sunrise at around 6:00am using a Nikon D800 camera with AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G zoom lens, set to f/16, 1/30s, 35mm, ISO 400.