Located near Georgetown, Maine
Seguin Island Light is located about 2.5 miles off Popham Beach, south of Bath, Maine. It was built because of its proximity to the mouth of the Kennebec River, and because Seguin Island is very tall. The highest point on the island is 140 feet above sea level. Seguin Island Light itself is 46 feet, making the beacon 186 feet above sea level and the highest in Maine. It is also the second-oldest lighthouse in Maine, the oldest being Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth.
Access to the island is limited to personal watercraft and a seasonal private charter ferry that runs out of Phippsburg. My plan for photographing the distant lighthouse was to drive up to Popham Beach and hope the height of the island would make it clearly visible from the shore. When we arrived at the beach I was a pessimistic we’d be able to see it because the fog and mist had settled in. I was able to get some photos of the lighthouse but they were very gray and muted. I wasn’t too disappointed though because Sequin Island is famous for being one of the foggiest places on the Maine coast, so a gray misty painting wouldn’t be out of character for the location. A seagull flew into the frame of one of my photos, which I always consider a good sign because I love painting birds in flight.
As I was resigned to painting a foggy Seguin Island Lighthouse I put it in my queue. Before I could get to it however, a friend of mine who has a boat in Falmouth, Maine offered to take me out to the island. I jumped at the chance to get closer to the lighthouse on a warmer and sunnier day.
We left on a bright, early September morning across Casco Bay toward the distant lighthouse. Along the way we passed Little Mark Island Day Beacon and Shipwreck Refuge, which I’ve already painted, as well as South Pole explorer Admiral Perry’s summer home on Eagle Island.
When we got closer to our destination, I got my first clear indication of just how high the beacon is. The lighthouse itself seemed to diminish as we circled around the tall cliffs and long slopes of Seguin Island. After getting some reference shots we moored in Seguin Cove for lunch.
On the way back to Falmouth we were able to get close to two more lighthouses on my list: Pond Island Lighthouse, and Halfway Rock Lighthouse. The latter is even more out of the way than Seguin Island light, marking the halfway point of Casco Bay from Cape Elizabeth to Cape Small (the furthest southwest and northeast points of Casco Bay).
About Seguin Island Light Station
Seguin Island Light was established in 1795, but the tower that stands today was built in 1857 along with the adjoining Light Keeper’s house. In 1786 fifty-five local petitioners made their case to the court of Massachusetts that Sequin Island was the perfect place for a lighthouse as it could serve as both a coastal marker, and a beacon to the entrance of the Kennebec River. (Maine was part of Massachusetts until it became its own state in 1820).
The island is so steep that oxen were used to haul supplies from the boat landing up to the lighthouse until a railroad was built in 1895.
The lighthouse was automated in 1985. In 1998 a local group called the Friends of Seguin Island were granted ownership of the lighthouse by the US Coast Guard through the Maine Lights Program.
When the lighthouse was rebuilt in 1875, a first order Fresnel Lens was installed in the beacon. In 1998 the Coast Guard wanted to replace the lens with a new plastic one. 7200 Mainers signed a petition, and with the help of Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, it was announced in 2000 that the Coast Guard would keep the original 1875 lens. It was refurbished and cleaned in 2006 and is now the only First Order Fresnel Lens operating in Maine and north of Rhode Island.
About My Painting of Seguin Island Lighthouse
The painting is 16″x12″ gouache on panel.
I wanted to focus on the lighthouse and house and not so much on the fact that it was very high up. Knowing that the lens was such a unique feature of the lighthouse I wanted to make sure the beacon was close enough that you could see the lens itself was special.
The view is from Sequin Cove with some spruce trees in the foreground on the bottom right corner of the painting. The flora of the hillside is mostly beach roses, berry bushes and long grass, which had turned brown after a long dry Summer.
The original Seguin Island Lighthouse painting and prints are available through my online gallery, fineartnewengland.com.
Sources
Most of the technical and historical information mentioned above comes from Friends of Seguin Island and my favorite source for all lighthouse history, LighthouseFriends.com.