Built in 1808 to guide the mariners
into Wood Island Harbor,
the 47 foot rubblestone tower
is the original and is
Maine's oldest lighthouse tower.
A fourth order Fresnel lens and
a new keeper's house was added in 1858.
A new rotating aerobeacon was
installed in 1972 and the
lights lantern was removed.
But the countless complaints from
mariners about the "headless"
lighthouse prompted the return
of the lantern and a smaller lens
was installed at the time
of automation in 1986.
28 acres of the islands 35
were deeded to the
Maine Audubon Society in 1970.
Legend
This island is haunted by
the ghost of a murder victim.
The tale tells of a
lobsterman/sometimes policeman
who lived on the island.
Called a gentle giant,the man
lived peacefully on the island
until a younger man settled there.
The lobsterman found his new
neighbor wandering around the island
quite drunk after an
evening in a mainland bar.
The young man was carrying a rifle
and shot at the lobsterman
mortally wounding him.
When the lighthouse keeper found
the young man wandering aimlessly,
he advised the man to surrender himself.
The young man instead returned to
his squatter's shack and
shot himself in the head.
Strange events through the years
have been attributed to the ghost
of the murdered lobsterman,
haunting the area.
