In 1811 a 50 foot stone black and white day
beacon marked the entrance to Portland Harbor.
The light was named for Princess Elizabeth
the daughter of King James 1and Queen Anne
of Denmark,by Captain John Smith.
The stone marker was destroyed in 1827,
when the first two lights were built.
Located on the same site was the
east light and the inner light on the west.
Aligning the lights the mariners were able to
position their vessels into the channel.
It was discontinued in 1855,
and the local lobstermen
and fishermen protested the
deactivation and it was
reactivated the same year.
The Fresnel lens was installed in 1855.
The east tower was painted
with four horizontal red stripes,
and the western one was
painted with one red vertical stripe.
The original Two Lights
was replaced in 1874,
with 67 foot cast iron
towers at 300 yards apart,
and second order Fresnel
lenses installed.
In 1882,the west light was shut down
but the remaining light confused mariners,
who thought it was the
near by Wood Island Light.
The government,in 1924 mandated
that all twin lights be reduced to
single lights, so the west light
was permanently discontinued.
Automated in 1963 and the
lens removed in 1994.
The tower is the most powerful
(four million candle power) on the
New England coast and can be
seen for 27 nautical miles.
