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Doubling Point Light (Arrowsic, Maine)
Doubling Point Light is located on Arrowsic
Island at a bend in the Kennebec River on the other side of the river from Bath
Maine. The light was built in 1898.
It was one of four Kennebec River light stations that were built that year. The
others were Perkin’s Island Light, Squirrel Point Light, and the Doubling
Point Range Lights. Originally, the station consisted of an octagonal lighthouse, a keeper’s house, a small barn and a fog bell tower. The lighthouse was relocated to its present location in 1899.
The U.S. Lighthouse Service manned the
station until 1935. At this time a decision was made to sell the keeper’s
property and have the light run and maintained by the keeper of the nearby range
lights. So on August 13, 1935 the keeper’s property was sold to a private
owner for $2,200. The Coast Guard
took over the responsibility to maintain the light in 1939. The Fresnel lens was removed around 1975
when the lighthouse was equipped with a more modern 300mm light system, the bell
was removed in 1980, and the walkway re-built in 1985.
The Fresnel lens can be seen at the Shore Village Museum in Rockland,
Maine. The fog bell whereabouts are unknown. As part of the Maine Lights
Program, the lighthouse property was transferred to The Friends of Doubling
Point Light in April of 1998.
The Doubling Point Light Station is listed
in the National Register of Historic Places. The lighthouse can be seen from the grounds of the Maine Maritime Museum that is across the river on the other side. The Maritime Museum also offers lighthouse cruises that provided close up water views of this and many other area lights.
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All pictures are the original work of Rick Totton and are protected under copyright laws. Do not reproduce any images from this website without permission of the author. Copyright (c) 2000 Rick Totton.
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In
its present location the lighthouse is positioned on top of a granite foundation
out in the river and is accessed by a long wooden walkway that extends from the
land over some marshes and out to the lighthouse. The light is 23 feet above the
water and emits a flashing white light. The fog bell tower was also re-located
in 1899 to the rear of the property and converted into a garage.
Each
spring, ice floes in the Kennebec River push against the base of the lighthouse
and cause movement of the huge granite blocks that make up the lighthouse
foundation. Each year the base became more and more distorted and there was a
fear that if nothing was done the lighthouse would be in danger of falling into
the river.