Maine Lighthouses: A Guide to the Pine Tree State’s Guiding Lights

Few images say “Maine” like a white lighthouse on a rocky headland with the surf crashing below. Scattered along the state’s roughly 3,478 miles of tidal coastline and among its 3,000-plus islands stand more than 60 lighthouses — working navigational aids and beloved cultural icons alike. From the oldest tower in the state to candy-striped beacons at the nation’s easternmost point, each has a story. Here is a guide to Maine’s guiding lights.

A Coast Made for Lighthouses

Maine’s coastline is long, rocky, island-strewn, and often shrouded in fog — in short, treacherous for ships. As maritime trade, fishing, and shipbuilding grew from the late 1700s onward, lighthouses rose to guide vessels safely past ledges and into harbor. Today most are automated and many are no longer strictly necessary for navigation, yet they remain among Maine’s most cherished landmarks, drawing visitors from around the world.

Portland Head Light

The most famous of them all is Portland Head Light, standing on the rocks at Cape Elizabeth at the entrance to Portland Harbor. Completed in 1791, it is the oldest lighthouse in Maine and was the first lighthouse built by the U.S. government — constructed under the orders of President George Washington. (It is often mistakenly called the oldest lighthouse in the country; that honor belongs to Boston Light, from 1716.) The roughly 80-foot rubblestone tower was automated in 1989, and the former keeper’s quarters now house a museum in Fort Williams Park.

Pemaquid Point Light

Perched above the dramatic, wave-sculpted rock ledges of Bristol, Pemaquid Point Light (1827) is one of Maine’s most photographed beacons — so beloved that it became the first lighthouse ever depicted on U.S. currency, appearing on the Maine state quarter. The keeper’s house is now the Fishermen’s Museum, and the striated granite ledges below the light are a spectacle in their own right (though slippery and dangerous near the surf).

West Quoddy Head Light

Far Down East in Lubec stands West Quoddy Head Light, marking the easternmost point in the United States — the first place in the country to see the sunrise. Its candy-striped red-and-white tower, rebuilt in 1858, is unmistakable, and the surrounding state park offers trails and sweeping views over the Bay of Fundy and its famous tides.

More of Maine’s Famous Lights

Maine’s coast is dotted with other beloved beacons. The Cape Neddick “Nubble” Light in York, on its own little rock island, is one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world. Marshall Point Light in Port Clyde is famous as the lighthouse where Forrest Gump ended his cross-country run in the 1994 film. And on Mount Desert Island near Acadia, Bass Harbor Head Light clings to the cliffs above the sea — along with Owls Head Light, Portland Breakwater Light (the little “Bug Light”), and dozens more.

Visiting Maine’s Lighthouses

Many of Maine’s lighthouses are easy to visit, set in public parks with grounds open year-round, though the towers themselves are usually closed. The Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland tells their story with the largest collection of lighthouse lenses in the country, and the American Lighthouse Foundation helps preserve many of them. For a rare treat, come for Maine Open Lighthouse Day each September, when you can climb more than a dozen historic towers; boat tours out of Portland, Boothbay, and other harbors offer views of lights you can only reach by water.

Explore the Coast

Lighthouses are best enjoyed alongside the wild coast they guard. See the rugged shore that inspired Winslow Homer at Prouts Neck, and learn about the dramatic Maine tides that make the coast so treacherous — and so beautiful. Travelers heading inland along the tidal Kennebec, past its own river lighthouses, will reach our town of Winslow, where Fort Halifax has watched over the river since 1754.

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