Some Lighthouses in New England- 3

The last four lighthouses in this series are famous, and beloved! They have character, each with its own rich history, and each of them features on the National Register of Historic Places. I will list them here in the order that I visited them.

17. Cape Neddick Lighthouse, Nubble Island, Maine

The lighthouse stands on Nubble Island and is popularly known as Nubble Light of just The Nubble. It was first established in 1879, and was automated in 1987.
Our visit began on a very cloudy, grey and windy day. As I sat there, looking at the lighthouse, I felt a sense of calm take over me. The wind was blowing, and the gulls were calling.

At first, it was faint, then I was sure I heard strains of music. A group of young girls from a nearby school who were also visiting, had decided to practice their musical skills by the shore. A few other tourists like me sat on the rocks and watched those young women play as the waves serenaded in the background. Their friends took pictures, and so did some of us. It was an amazing impromptu concert!

The grey skies were allowing some blue to peek through, but it wasn't clearing up. I thought I wouldn't get to see The Nubble with the sun shining.
After about an hour, we decided to drive further to Ogunquit and walk along Marginal Way. Marginal Way is a walking trail along the coast with some amazing views, and interesting things were happening there as well! We even got to witness a wedding, and older ladies among the visiting tourists made sure the couple got an applause after their marriage was solemnized!

The sun was shining brightly now, a couple of hours after we had left The Nubble. We decided to go back to see if it was basking in sunshine. It was! I even got to see it in the golden hour, just before sunset, because we decided to eat a hearty lobster meal at the restaurant there.

The many moods of The Nubble!

18. Portland Head Light, Cape Elizabeth, Maine

This is the oldest lighthouse in Maine, built in 1791. It is now automated, and is maintained by the United States Coast Guard. The keeper's house is now a maritime museum.

A very scenic spot with a coastal trail led us to view the lighthouse from another angle.
A quick Gelato indulgence completed a perfect visit to this landmark.

19. Bass Harbor Head Light, Mount Desert Island, Maine

Built in 1855, this lighthouse was automated in 1960. The keeper's house is now a private residence of a local member of the Coast Guard, and off limits to the public.

However, a short walk and a few steps lead to granite rocks that provide a beautiful view of the harbor side of the lighthouse.
A great sunset meant a lot of competition for space on the rocks!

20. Gay Head Light, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

First built in 1799, and automated in 1960, this lighthouse was built as a navigational aide to help vessels pass through the dangerous waters of Vineyard Sound near the Gay Head Cliffs.

These quietly serene clay cliffs display a brilliant array of colors and are beautiful! They are ecologically protected.

The lighthouse is a striking red brick structure with a black lantern.

Inside the lighthouse, a spiral stairway first leads to the control room, and then to the light, where it can get quite hot and the light is intense!

The lighthouse had to be moved in 2015 due to danger from cliff erosion. They have now moved it about 180 feet from the eroding edge, where experts believe it will not be threatened for another 150 years. 

From the viewing platform up in the lighthouse, the area where it stood earlier is marked by stones, beyond which are the cliffs. 

The lighthouse in its present location in October 2016. 

Lighthouses have been dear to me for many years, and it had been a long cherished dream to visit some of them. It was remarkable to visit as many lighthouses as we did. Each one now holds a special place in my memory.

Some Lighthouses in New England- 2

Continuing with my lighthouse discovery mission, as we drove up the coast of Maine, we took a short detour to visit this one.

9. Marshall Point Lighthouse, Maine

Busy with my camera taking pictures of the lighthouse, I failed to notice this senior lady in purple trousers and a matching shirt walk up to me and ask if I was done taking pictures so she could walk up to the lighthouse. She looked about 75 to 80 years old, and I thought she was with other tourists like us.

"Of course", I said, "go on!" and I started taking pictures of some very interesting rocks nearby. 

She walked to the lighthouse and back, to bump into me again. She said hello, and asked me how I had heard about this lighthouse. I said I had been looking for interesting looking lighthouses, and had found this one on google. 

"Isn't it beautiful?" she asked.

"It sure is." I replied. 

"Where are you from?"- was her next question. 

"Texas" I said. 

"Whoa! You've come a long way! Where are y'all headed?"

"Bar Harbor" I replied, (rolling my r's appropriately), "and Acadia National Park". 

"Oh, forget that southern accent up here!", she declared, "Up here, you say- we're going to Bah-Hahbah!"

I laughed... and she said- "I'm serious! By the way, do you know you have a national park in Texas as well?" 

"Yes, Big bend, but we haven't visited it yet", I replied. 

"It's beautiful", she said, "Each state has it's own beauty, two days is never enough to see all of it. You know what I want to do- spend a month each in all 48 contiguous states and then check myself into a nursing home and bore the heck out of all residents there with my stories!"

I said I thought it was a splendid idea! 

"I really wish I could do that." she added. 

She talked some more, and my husband was wondering what I was talking about for so long with a stranger! 

Then suddenly she asked- "Do you recycle?"

"Of course", I replied, "my recycle bin is full and I have hardly any trash, because all my kitchen waste goes into a composter!" 

"That's great! You know what a young girl in my family did the other day? She threw a lollipop stick out the car window... does her mother not teach her anything! What's with some people today! Anyways, I won't take any more of your time, it was nice talking to you. Enjoy your trip to Bah Hahbah!"

"Thank you, it was great talking to you too", I said, and went back to taking pictures. 

When I turned around, she was nowhere to be seen. I asked my husband if he had seen her, and he said she got into her car and drove away, all by herself! 

When we got to Bar Harbor, we saw t-shirts for sale that said Bah-Hahbah! I knew what that meant because of the charming lady in purple! It was nice meeting you Ma'am!

A wooden boardwalk leading to the lighthouse. This lighthouse was featured in the film Forrest Gump. I did not know this when we visited.

Very interesting looking rocks near the lighthouse. A result of complicated layering and folding processes described here, these rocks have subtle color differences between layers.

The lighthouse with the keeper's house. The lighthouse was originally built in 1832, and the present brick tower was replaced in 1857.

2. Lighthouse Point Park, New Haven, Connecticut

The lighthouse is now surrounded by a park, and is a popular bird watching site especially in months when migratory birds visit by the thousands. 

3. Stonington Old Lighthouse, Connecticut

The building is now used as an old lighthouse museum.

 4. Nobska Lighthouse, Massachusetts

This picture was taken from the ferry to Martha's Vineyard. The lighthouse was established in 1826, and the present tower was built in 1876. It is a lovely lighthouse with the keeper's house, a radio beacon house, and a small oil house attached.

5. West Chop Lighthouse, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

This picture was also taken from the ferry to Martha's Vineyard. The tower and the keeper's dwelling are on the side. It is listed on National Register of Historic Places.

6. Edgartown Lighthouse, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

7. East Chop Lighthouse, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

Originally set up in 1828, this lighthouse was important in receiving signals from Nantucket and relaying them to Woods hole, and surrounding areas.

8. Scituate Light, Cedar Point, Massachusetts

This old lighthouse, which is also on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1811. The keeper's house is now a private residence. We visited on a very rainy day, and the grey skies are evident in the picture.

Some Lighthouses in New England-1

As a child, on a rare night drive along the coast with my family on the west coast of India, I had seen a beacon flashing light. My father explained that it was a lighthouse and why they existed. Soon, we moved into a house that had a great view and the lighthouse on the other side of the river, a trusted landmark signalling that the coast is near, became a friend. The light flashed in a pattern- three times in quick succession and then a long pause, then again three bursts followed by a long pause. That's when my interest in lighthouses began. Sailboats, and dolphins were two other favorite nautical elements.

One of the main attractions to visit the New England coastline was to check out lighthouses- there were so many of them, and each with a distinct appeal. I had carefully chosen a few that were on our route. Some very famous and some obscure, but just as interesting as their famous counterparts. In the end, we managed to see twenty of them. Featuring in this post are eight.

1. We saw the first one within a few hours of landing in Boston. It was the Eastern Point Lighthouse. Well maintained and at the end of a narrow rocky pathway, it stood there in all its glory! It was a happy start to the lighthouse discovery mission!

2. The lighthouse at Fort Constitution, Portsmouth, New Hampshire was the next one- on a grey and windy morning, it stood there like it has always, warning sailors of the hazards and welcoming them home!

3. Ram Island Ledge Light, Portland, Maine as seen from Portland Head Light, is a historic granite structure. Not accessible to the public, it is privately owned.

4. The keeper's house of Cape Elizabeth Light (Cape Elizabeth Two Lights), Maine is also now a private residence and not accessible to the public. It is well maintained by the owners and was a delight to see from afar.

5. The Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse, Portland, Maine is the only caisson type of lighthouse in the United States that is accessible from land. A caisson lighthouse is a lighthouse whose super structure rests on a metal or concrete caisson. Located at the edge of a breakwater, it has been around for 117 years. 

6. Portland Breakwater Light, or Bug Light, Portland Maine was the most fairy tale like lighthouse I saw. Not very tall, as compared to some others we saw earlier, the details on the this one were beautiful! 

This sign explains the inspiration behind the structure, and its brief history.

A close up of the details.

7. Fort Point Lighthouse, Stockton Springs, Maine, is another historical landmark. On the grounds of this light station, is a keeper's house, a bell house, an oil house and a barn.

The mailbox of the lighthouse is very unique, and apt!

8. Burlington Breakwater Light, Lake Champlain, Vermont (1857)

A few Covered Bridges of New Hampshire and Vermont

It was by chance that I saw a picture of a covered bridge (my first) and I loved what I saw! This was a few months ago. When the trip to New England began to take shape- I tried to seek out covered bridges in the area. There were quite a few and the task was to find ones that did not require a detour. My list of things to check out on this tour was growing and I did not want the road trip to be too cramped with detours. It was decided that we would only check out ones that were on our route.

The first few days were all about lighthouses, which were one of the highlights of this vacation. When we left the coast for the mountains in New Hampshire, I knew covered bridges were scattered all over. My first encounter was with this charmer at the Flume Gorge. As we hiked on the trail, there it was! The Flume Bridge- over the Pemigewasset river.

Pemigewasset means 'swift and rapid current' in the Abenaki Indian language.
The date on a sign on the bridge says 1886, but the New Hampshire government website says that the bridge was built in 1871.

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Seeing this beauty justified my decision to include them in my list of things to see. We made our way on the path to the other side of the bridge to continue with our hike. After walking over a mile, the Sentinel Pine Covered bridge lay ahead.

We walked down to it, and joined a few people who were taking pictures of the very scenic views around.

Built in 1939, it gets its name from a giant Sentinel Pine tree that stood on a cliff near a deep water basin in the Pemigewasset river, called the Pool. The pine was almost 175 feet tall, and had a circumference of about 16 feet. It fell during the hurricane in 1938. Workers used a sixty foot piece of it, put it across the river to form the base of the bridge, and using wood from other trees downed by the hurricane, built a footbridge to cover the pine and protect it.
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Why were these wooden bridges covered back then?
Among the many reasons-
-increasing longevity of wooden bridges by protecting it from the elements,
-providing shelter in bad weather,
-helping cattle get over the bridge without a stampede (caused by animals getting alarmed by gushing water),
-making the bridges stronger and aesthetically appealing.

Bad weather later in the day kept me from visiting the Bartlett covered bridge. However, the following day was nice. The next bridge on my list was at Bath, NH.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and built in 1832, the Bath Bridge as we see today is the fifth bridge at the location. The first, built at a cost of about $366, was destroyed in a flood, and floods were also responsible for the destruction of the second and third bridge. The fourth was a victim of fire.

The fifth one was built at a final cost of about $2900.

It initially had hewn arches, and new overlapping arches were added to strengthen it in 1920.
Interestingly, back then, cattle movement across the bridge was believed to be a major cause of weakening of bridges. Horses were prohibited to trot on this one.

Close up of the support system.

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Not too far from the Bath Covered Bridge, is the Bath-Haverhill Covered Bridge.
Built in 1829, it is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The details of the history behind the only bridge ever constructed at this site are on the signs one finds near, and on the bridge.

Walking across the bridge takes you to another era!

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The Robbins Nest Covered Bridge in Vermont was built in 1962, and stands on private property. It is not a historic bridge, but is authentic in replicating the design and construction of a bridge that stood nearby and was swept away in 1927 in a flood. 

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As we continued with our drive, this interesting bridge drew my attention. Originally called the Victorian Village Covered Bridge, it was built in 1872. It was restored in 1967 and now stands at the Vermont Country Store in Rockingham. It is now called the Kissing Bridge. 

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Finally, the Creamery Covered Bridge at Brattleboro, Vermont.

Built in 1879, it is Brattleboro's last surviving bridge built in the nineteenth century.

The lattice truss designed by American architect Ithiel Town can be seen in this picture and gives it an old-world charm.

The side walkway was added to the bridge in 1920. The bridge was closed to traffic in 2010.

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It was such pleasure to get to see these bridges. Surprisingly, I had not watched Bridges of Madison County (the movie) until now! Or I would have been familiar with these beautiful structures twenty years ago. Today, these bridges are mostly tourist attractions- symbols of life over a hundred years ago. On one hand, life was simpler back then, and slow. However, the challenges they had to face were immense. Reading up about the bridges drove home that fact even more. Though natural disasters pose a threat even today, other problems with things we take for granted today, posed risks for those folks. 

We, as a people, keep moving on- on a quest to become more liberated! Trying to make lives simpler than they were before. Have we really been successful at that? 

Do chime in with your thoughts! They are always appreciated.