Portsmouth Harbor

Alternate Name(s):
Fort Point
Year Established:
1771
Existing:
Yes
Download:
File Type:
jpeg (image/jpeg)
Photo Date:
September 15, 2012
Photo Credit:
Jeremy D'Entremont
Collection / Donor:

LOCATION

Location:
Adjacent to Fort Constitution at Fort Point, on Coast Guard Station Portsmouth Harbor
Latitude:
43° 4.2'
Longitude:
70° 42.5'
City / Town:
NEW CASTLE
U.S. State:
New Hampshire
Location County:
ROCKINGHAM
Country:
United States

OWNER & ACCESS

Owner / Manager:
Owned by U.S. Coast Guard; licensed to American Lighthouse Foundation
Open to Public:
Yes
Light List Data:
  1. Portsmouth Harbor
Light list data courtesy Gary Riemenschneider

STRUCTURE

Year Tower Established:
1878
Tower Construction Material:
CAST IRON
Tower Foundation:
ROUGH STONE, TOPPED WITH CONCRETE
Height of light above mean high water, in feet:
52
Height, in feet, from base of structure to center of lantern:
48
Tower Shape:
CONICAL
Tower Daymark:
WHITE WITH BLACK LANTERN
Fog Signal Building?:
No
Keeper's Quarters?:
Yes
Year Keeper's Quarters:
1872
Keeper's Quarters Style:
Queen Anne Victorian
Keeper's Quarters Construction:
WOOD FRAME
Other Structures:
BRICK OIL HOUSE (1903), WALKWAY FROM GROUNDS OF FORT TO BASE OF TOWER. 1860s-ERA WALL OF FORT CONSTITUTION STANDS NEXT TO OIL HOUSE, ABOUT 80 FEET FROM LIGHTHOUSE.

OPTICS

Active Aid to Navigation?:
Yes
Current Optic:
FOURTH ORDER, FRESNEL
Original Optic Type:
FOURTH ORDER, FRESNEL
Year Original Lens Installed:
1854
Private Aid:
No
Year Automated:
1960
USCG Access to Optics:
Yes

Comments:

The original (1771) lighthouse at Fort Point in New Castle, NH, was the first lighthouse north of Boston in the American colonies. The second lighthouse (1804), an 80-foot octagonal wooden tower, was built about 300 feet east of the original location. The present lighthouse was erected in 1878 on the same foundation as its predecessor. Its care was licensed to the American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) in 2000. A chapter of ALF, the Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, manages the lighthouse and opens it for regularly scheduled seasonal open houses.

Information from New England Lighthouses: A Virtual Guide website at www.newenglandlighthouses.net, author Jeremy D'Entremont

- January 2022 storm destroyed the footbridge to the lighthouse halting visitors from access

- January 2024 storms damaged the lighthouse's foundation and damaged the oil house.


Entered by:
t.wheeler
Entered Date:
Jul 21, 2017