Angeles Juarez and Tom Pickering were waiting in line Saturday at Fort Williams Park for a rare opportunity to go inside Portland Head Light and climb the 85 stairs to see the view from the top.

The iconic lighthouse, one of the most photographed and visited in the country, would be open for limited indoor tours for just the one day. Tickets were handed out on a first-come, first-served basis, and visitors who arrived later were told no more inside tours were available, although they could take in the museum and the unparalleled scenery at the park. Some checked out other lighthouses nearby.

Juarez and Pickering traveled from New Jersey specifically to see Portland Head Light. Because they arrived at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, they were among about 300 people who nabbed tickets to go inside, climb to the top, and take in the views from 80 feet above the ground.

“She wanted to see this lighthouse. She loves lighthouses,” Pickering said.

Saturday was Maine Open Lighthouse Day, and an estimated 18,000 people visited the 19 lighthouses across the state that opened their doors to the public – the state has about 65 lighthouses in all. The Coast Guard partners with the American Lighthouse Foundation to offer the annual open house.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd class Michael Rice awaits a new group of visitors to the top of Portland Head Light at Fort Williams Park Saturday. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

“It’s beautiful! I love it. The view is, oh my God!” Juarez said.

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Kris Taylor of Cape Elizabeth celebrated her birthday by climbing the lighthouse stairs. “The view is amazing,” she said.

“This lighthouse is extremely popular,” said Peter Poulin of the Coast Guard Auxiliary. “The tours are free, but we can only bring 12 people up at a time so there’s no congestion on the stairway, and give people enough time at the top to experience the view,” he said. “We started handing out tickets at 8:45.” By 9:30 a.m., the tickets were gone.

It takes a few minutes to climb the spiral stairs, and ticketholders were cautioned to hold onto the railing. While ascending, voices echo in the narrow stairway.

After climbing to the top, tourists were greeted by Coast Guard Senior Chief Clayton Franklin. The Coast Guard maintains the lights on lighthouses, but most are owned privately or by nonprofit organizations, he said. Portland Head Light is owned by the town of Cape Elizabeth.

People take photographs from the top of Portland Headlight at Fort Williams Park Saturday. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

“It’s great to interact with the public, to share what we do, and offer a bit of history,” he said. Portland Head Light was commissioned by George Washington decades before Maine became a state.

“This lighthouse was first lit on Jan. 10, 1791, by 16 whale oil lamps,” Franklin said. “It’s fun to tell the story.”

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Another story surrounding the lighthouse is the wreck of the Annie C. Maguire, which struck ledge a bit offshore on Christmas Eve 1886. The ship, from Argentina, was headed to Quebec with 18 people aboard, Poulin said. All 18 were rescued by lighthouse keeper Joshua Strout, his family and volunteers.

“He fed them … a Christmas meal,” Poulin said.

While lighthouses are no longer manned, they remain critical to navigation, according to the Coast Guard.

“Professional mariners use lighthouses to take their visual bearings,” Franklin said. Often harbor pilots use lighthouses to double check the location that their electronics show. When looking at a lighthouse, “they know their location.”

Lighthouses are also a big draw to tourists, and Portland Head Light is among the world’s most visited.

On Saturday, tour buses dropped off hundreds of tourists. Vehicles in the parking lot bore license plates from Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Texas, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Maine and elsewhere.

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Portland Head Light at Fort Williams Park on Maine Open Lighthouse Day, but visitors took in its magnificence from afar. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Portland Head Light is among the tallest lighthouses in Maine, but the tallest is 133-foot Boon Island Lighthouse, which is visible from York Beach, said Ann-Marie Trapani, associate director for the American Lighthouse Foundation. Boon Island, however, was not open to the public on Saturday.

Those that were open included some on islands only accessible by boat – Wood Island Light off Biddeford Pool and Burnt Island Light off Southport. Others included South Portland’s Spring Point Ledge, Pemaquid Point and Owls Head lighthouses. Trapani was hosting visitors at Owls Head, and said the day had been busy.

“People absolutely love it,” she said. “A lot of lighthouses aren’t able to be open every day. This is one day we coordinate with the Maine Office of Tourism, the U.S. Coast Guard and our organization, the American Lighthouse Foundation.”

The goal of the annual, post-Labor Day event is to call attention to the preservation and historic significance of Maine lighthouses, Trapani said, and to allow Mainers to “explore and see their lighthouses.”


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