The annual Maine Open Lighthouse Day is Saturday, Sept. 13. (Photo courtesy KingPineAir)
Fourteen lighthouses throughout Maine will welcome visitors during the annual Maine Open Lighthouse Day on Saturday, Sept. 13.
In honor of this special event, Friends of Pemaquid Point Lighthouse will open the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse tower for tours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Come and climb up this beloved historic landmark, which is still an operational U.S. Coast Guard aid to navigation.
In the tower’s lantern room, visitors can inspect a historic Fresnel lens and admire breathtaking views of the Gulf of Maine, Muscongus Bay, and nearby islands, including picturesque Monhegan Island.
This fully operational lighthouse, which is depicted on the Maine state quarter issued by the U.S. Mint in 2003, will be celebrating its 200th birthday in 2027. In preparation for this event, Friends of Pemaquid Point Lighthouse is endeavoring to collect donations to fund some critical restoration projects to help the lighthouse continue to shine for another 200 years, guiding ships into Muscongus Bay.
The only place to give donations that go to the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse is inside the lighthouse tower itself, attended by Friends of Pemaquid Point Lighthouse volunteers. There may be other groups on the park grounds looking for donations, but they are not affiliated with the lighthouse itself.
To make a donation online, go to pemaquidpointlight.org and click the “Donate” tab.
Friends of Pemaquid Point Lighthouse volunteers contribute more than 1,000 hours annually to maintain the tower, give tours, and share the role of lighthouses in Maine’s seafaring past. The group depends solely on monetary donations to preserve this iconic Lincoln County landmark.
Unlike many of the other lighthouses participating in Maine Open Lighthouse Day, the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse will be open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week until Monday, Oct. 13.
Come visit Pemaquid Point and see the lighthouse Downeast Magazine named Maine’s best lighthouse either on Maine Open Lighthouse Day, Sept. 13, or any day before Indigenous People’s Day, Monday, Oct. 13.
Maine Open Lighthouse Day is sponsored by the U.S. Coast Guard, Maine Office of Tourism, and the American Lighthouse Foundation. For more information, go to lighthousefoundation.org/maine-open-lighthouse-day.
