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Ram Island Light
Ram Island Light is
located off Ocean Point
on the eastern side
of Boothbay Harbor.
In 1883, President Chester A.Arthur
ordered it built.
The brick lighthouse
on a granite base
is very similar to the towers at
Isle au Haut and Marshall Point,and
also includes a wooden walkway
connecting the tower to the island.
The Victorian keeper's house and
fog bell tower were built in 1883
and the oil house in 1898.
The light was automated in 1965.
The house was vandalized and
the fourth order Fresnel lens was
stolen in 1975.
The Coast Guard repaired the lighthouse
and removed the walkway in 1977,
and the boathouse was destroyed
by a winter storm in 1978.
Rescued from demolition in 1983 by
the Grand Banks Schooner
Museum and Trust,
which leased the property and grounds.
The Ram Island Preservation Society,
has since restored the house,
and part time caretakers
live on the island
during the summer.
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Ram Island Light
A lantern in the bow of a
fisherman's anchored dory was used
as the first navigational
aid on Ram Island.
The last fisherman in each night
was responsible for
lighting the lantern.
This lasted until the dory
was wrecked in a storm.
The lantern was then
moved to the island,
but the shipwreckes continued
as the light was not bright enough
to keep the ships away from the rocks.
For many years after that
there was no light and the
local town folk talked
of ghosts that would guide
the ship in to safety.
Some of the stories were;
"a sounding fog whistle",
(there was no signal on the island)
a burning boat at night with
no trace in the morning
and a women in white
waving a lighted torch.
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