Misplaced Pages

Doubling Point Range Lights

Front Light in foreground, Rear Light just visible, right of middle in the background
Location	Sagadahoc County, US
Water body	Kennebec River
Coordinates	43°52′58″N 69°47′44″W / 43.88286°N 69.79564°W / 43.88286; -69.79564
Established	1898
Doubling Point Front Range Light
Construction	lumber (tower), granite (foundation)
Automated	1988
Height	17 ft (5.2 m)
Shape	octagon
Markings	white (tower), red (roof)
Operator	United States Coast Guard
Focal height	18 ft (5.5 m)
Characteristic	Q W
Doubling Point Rear Range Light
Construction	lumber (tower), granite (foundation)
Height	13 ft (4.0 m)
Shape	octagon
Markings	white (tower), red (roof)
Operator	United States Coast Guard
Focal height	33 ft (10 m)
Characteristic	Iso W 6s
Kennebec River Light Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Nearest city	Bath, Maine
Area	7 acres (2.8 ha)
Architect	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
MPS	Light Stations of Maine MPS
NRHP reference No.	87002263

The Doubling Point Range Lights are a pair of range lights on the Kennebec River, in Arrowsic, Maine. Built in 1898 as part of a major improvement on navigational aids on the river, they are the only surviving pair of range lights in the state. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Kennebec River Light Station on January 21, 1988.

Description and history

The Doubling Point Range Lights are located on the lower Kennebec River, at a point where the normally south-flowing river makes a sharp turn to the east, followed by a turn back to the south. The range lights are set on the north side of the second turn; the first is marked by the Doubling Point Light. The range lights are oriented so that they are in alignment when seen from the main channel to the south. The light station consists of two octagonal wood frame towers, a keeper's house, and an oil house. The towers are joined to the keeper's house by wooden walkways with railings. The southern tower is 17 feet (5.2 m) in height, while the northern one is 13 feet (4.0 m) tall. When a ship is properly in the main channel, only the southern light will be visible.

The keeper's house stands west and a little north of the southern light. It is an L-shaped wood-frame structure, with a hip roof and a granite foundation. It has enclosed hip-roofed porches on its east and west sides. The oil house, standing further west of the house, is a small brick structure, with a gable roof, a narrow vent in one of the gable ends, and a centrally placed door.

The range lights were established in 1898, fifteen years after the founding of the Bath Iron Works, a major shipbuilder, one and a half miles upriver. They were part of a major upgrade of the river's lights — the Doubling Point Light, Perkins Island Light, and Squirrel Point Light were all built at the same time.

Gallery

• The two structures are more or less identical, but they show different characteristics at night.
• The keepers' quarters are to the left.
• The Fiddler's Reach Fog Signal (left) was also tended by the Doubling Point Range Lights' keepers
• The range as it appears on NOAA Chart 13296

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Sagadahoc County, Maine

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maine". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-08-05. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
3. United States Coast Guard (2009). Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. p. 53.
4. ^ "NRHP nomination for Doubling Point Range Lights". National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-04-23.

External links

• Media related to Doubling Point Range Lights at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Lighthouses of Maine
Main: List of lighthouses in the United States
Avery Rock Light Baker Island Light Bass Harbor Head Light Bear Island Light Blue Hill Bay Light Boon Island Light Browns Head Light Burnt Coat Harbor Light Burnt Island Light Cape Elizabeth Lights Cape Neddick Light Crabtree Ledge Light The Cuckolds Light Curtis Island Light Deer Isle Thorofare Light Dice Head Light Doubling Point Light Doubling Point Range Lights Eagle Island Light Egg Rock Light Fiddler's Reach Fog Signal Fort Point Light Franklin Island Light Goat Island Light Goose Rocks Light Great Duck Island Light Grindel Point Light Halfway Rock Light Hendricks Head Light Heron Neck Light Indian Island Light Isle au Haut Light Ladies Delight Light Libby Island Light Little River Light Lubec Channel Light Machias Seal Island* Marshall Point Light Matinicus Rock Light Monhegan Island Light Moose Peak Light Mount Desert Light Narraguagus Light Nash Island Light Owls Head Light Pemaquid Point Light Perkins Island Light Petit Manan Light Pond Island Light Portland Breakwater Light Portland Head Light Prospect Harbor Point Light Pumpkin Island Light Ram Island Light Ram Island Ledge Light Rockland Harbor Breakwater Light Saddleback Ledge Light Saint Croix River Light Seguin Light Spring Point Ledge Light Squirrel Point Light Tenants Harbor Light Two Bush Island Light West Quoddy Head Light Whaleback Light Whitehead Light Whitlocks Mill Light Winter Harbor Light Wood Island Light
* Disputed territory claimed by Maine but de facto controlled by Canada

• Lighthouses completed in 1898
• Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
• Lighthouses in Sagadahoc County, Maine
• Buildings and structures in Bath, Maine
• National Register of Historic Places in Sagadahoc County, Maine
• 1898 establishments in Maine