Portland Head Light

Portland Head Light is a lighthouse inside Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth, Maine – which is located just southeast of Portland. Construction began in 1787 at the directive of George Washington and was completed on January 10, 1791. The area became a military installation in the 1890’s but was obsolete by the 1960’s and was decommissioned. Today the Portland Head Light is owned by the town of Cape Elizabeth and stands 80 feet above ground with a white conical tower above the former keeper’s house.

The beacon light and fog signal are owned and maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard to aid in navigation along the coast. This park is a very popular tourist attraction – especially on weekends. So don’t expect a lot of privacy, but there are outstanding views of the Maine shoreline from the lighthouse and the banks along the coast. There are also a series of loop trails near the lighthouse and during our visit we walked some of them along the rocky Maine coast.