Gunfire at Fort Preble left a mark inside the keepers’ house at Portland Head Light: damaged plaster. A National Park Service survey records the response in 1905. The interior was sheathed, then covered with wallpaper over cloth. The survey attributed the damage to the reverberation of the guns. [1]
The house beside the tower in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, was built in 1891 as a duplex for the head keeper, assistant keeper and their families. It remained their home until the light was automated in 1989. The tower itself was much older, first lit on 10 January 1791. [2]
Where is this place?
Portland Head Light, Cape Elizabeth, Maine. This map locates the town or region, not a verified exact historic event site.
The federal survey, prepared in 1965–67, recorded two parallel households. Each unit had an entrance, living room, dining room and kitchen downstairs, with three bedrooms and a bathroom above. An office, beacon room and passage connected the living quarters to the tower. Stairs inside the house served the bedrooms and basement; the tower had its own circular iron stair. [1]
For the wallpaper alteration, the historians cited a local manuscript, government annual reports and a 1965 interview with keeper Armand Houde. [1]
The former home now houses the Museum at Portland Head Light, including lighthouse lenses and displays. Cape Elizabeth manages the property, while the Coast Guard maintains the light and fog signal. [2]