On February
21, 2006, American Lighthouse Foundation representatives accompanied
members of the U.S. Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team South Portland,
Maine, on a site visit to Whaleback Lighthouse. ALF, which assumed
responsibility for the preservation of the historic tower in October
2005, utilized the trip to assess the condition of
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
Whaleback Lighthouse continues to guide
maritime traffic in the 21st century
the six-level
structure and gain an understanding of the best method to land at the
offshore site. The fact-finding mission will be invaluable to the
organization as it pursues a professional engineering study
The present
Whaleback Lighthouse was built in 1872 and is the second beacon to stand
sentinel atop the wave-swept ledge at the mouth of the
Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont
Storm waves batter the Whaleback Light
at the mouth of the Piscataqua River
Piscataqua River, which borders Kittery,
Maine, and New Castle, New Hampshire and leads to Portsmouth Harbor.
According to ALF historian Jeremy D’Entremont, the “tower was
constructed of granite blocks dovetailed together in similar fashion to
Minot’s Ledge Light in Massachusetts and the Eddystone Light
in England.” The
original lighthouse was established in 1831 but poor construction methods
and severe storm damage doomed this structure.
Spending
approximately 2.5 hours on site, ALF was able to carefully examine each of
the six levels inside the 59-foot tower, as well as look
over the
tower’s rugged exterior and the ledge on which it is situated. “Anyone
who has seen Whaleback Light during a strong storm or heavy sea knows
all too well how this lighthouse takes a major pounding from powerful
seas,” says Bob Trapani, executive director for the American Lighthouse
Foundation. “The exterior of the structure appears to have held up well
over the years but time has taken a toll on the interior components as
one can imagine in the wake of the lighthouse having been automated now
for 43 years.”
The site visit
revealed years of water leakage inside the tower, which has caused the
interior
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
A view of the staircase in the base
of the lighthouse that is suffering
from moisture damage
hardwood floors to
suffer from deterioration and in some instances, the floors possess a
“spongy” feel about them. “The tower is obviously sound,” says Jeremy
D’Entremont, “but if things progress without some restoration done in the
next few years, it could get to the point where it's difficult or impossible
to access the upper floors.” Water damage has also impacted the interior
brick-lined walls where decades of dampness and freeze/thaw cycles have
cracked sections of the circular brick walls, while others suffer from a
need to be re-pointed.
A walk around the
ledge itself revealed the remains of the foundation that once supported the
light station’s fog signal. According to D’Entremont,
Photo by Bob Trapani,
Jr.
The base of the old fog signal tower
remains at the site
“The old
tower remained standing while the new one was built. When the new
Whaleback Lighthouse was finished the old one remained standing for some
time, but it eventually was torn down and replaced by a new iron tower,
a bit more than half the height of the lighthouse, which served as a
signal house for a new Daboll fog trumpet.”
In addition to the
remains of the fog signal tower, other boulders and blocks of cut granite
are strewn everywhere around the base of the lighthouse – much of which
occurred back in 1888 when a November gale tossed over 2,000 tons of stones
from the base of the old lighthouse in a chaotic fashion around the new
beacon.
One of the bigger
challenges associated with the restoration and preservation of Whaleback
Lighthouse will be the ability to safely land
volunteers and supplies at the site,
which possesses no dock or natural cove around the ledge. “As offshore
lighthouses go, Whaleback ranks right up there at the top in the degree
of difficulty associated with simply accessing the site,” says Bob
Trapani. “Obviously solving this dilemma in a safe and effective manner
has a great
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
Landing at Whaleback Lighthouse is not an
easy task as this picture shows
impact on ALF’s
ability to preserve the lighthouse. The location is a challenge to even the
most adept boatman as the area where you must land at on the harbor side of
the lighthouse is littered with dangerous rocks and sections of the
submerged ledge, but as the old saying goes, ‘where there is a will, there
is a way.’”
ALF president
Timothy Harrison believes it is imperative that the community rallies around
an offshore lighthouse like Whaleback given the
Photo by William Marshall
A beautiful sunrise at Whaleback Light
inherent
challenges to ensuring its preservation, saying, “the residents in the
nearby towns of Kittery and New Castle will be key in helping ALF save
this lighthouse. No organization can undertake these kinds of tough
projects without teamwork and the support of the
community – both
from a volunteer and donation perspective.”
Trapani echoed
Harrison’s sentiments, saying, “ALF has taken the first step of a journey
that has no end when it comes to saving Whaleback Lighthouse. The residents
of both Kittery and New Castle love this rugged beacon – this is their
chance to help ALF by becoming one of the many modern day “keepers” this
project will require.” Trapani concluded by stating, “One of the next steps
for the organization is to fund a professional engineering study on the
light tower, which will help determine restoration priorities. Yet despite
all the challenges associated with this wave-swept location, ALF believes
that by working together we will be ensure Whaleback’s light shines on for
future generations.”
