DICE HEAD LIGHT
Castine, Maine
Boy this place will win your heart. Talk about a quaint place to visit. The little town or village, as I might be inclined to call it, was a sleepy fishing port when I got there around 9:00 AM. Had just arrived from Bass Harbor Light. Now that road is deceiving and you don't think you are going anywhere but you end up at this dead end sort of place and there is the lighthouse. It is private property and you cannot go on the grounds. But you can walk down beside the stand alone garage building to the left and in front of the house. This takes you into the back yard maybe or front if you like and there are railroad ties in the ground indicating their line of demarcation. Stay on the side you walked down on and they won't mind the picture taking. I think you could go down to the water but I did not try to find out.
Dice Head Light was built and lit in 1829. They used one of those Winslow Lewis reflector lamps at first but eventually installed a 4th order Fresnel lens maybe around 1858. Finally in 1937, the lighthouse was decommissioned and replaced by a beacon on a stick, basically. Actually a skeleton tower, down on the rocks. The light was originally put into operation to assist the lumber boats headed towards the Penobscot River. It has recently been restored. The earlier version had a wooden tower built around the original rubble stone tower.
The town of Castine is very old, dating back to 1614 during the days of French fur traders. It is still a beautiful area to behold.
Here's how I saw it:
OF THE MOUNTAINS
John B Caddell
Copyright 2001