American Lighthouse Foundation

09/08/2026

✨Maine Open Lighthouse Day is coming this Saturday, September 12!✨

We’re proud to help bring this special day to life, opening the doors to some of Maine’s most iconic lighthouses.

Which lighthouse will you visit?

🔗 See the official list of participating lighthouses—link in bio!


lighthouselove

09/06/2026

A fascinating lighthouse scene from Rockland Harbor (Maine) today...

The 1902 Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse with the 55-foot wooden ketch-rigged A Morning In Maine, the Maine State Ferry Service's 154-foot "Capt. E Frank Thompson" and the 1,046-foot "Celebrity Silhouette" (at anchor), a Solstice-class cruise ship operated by Celebrity Cruises.

Rockland was a port of call for the "Celebrity Silhouette" today.

(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)

09/04/2026

Mark your calendar and plan to join us for the American Lighthouse Foundation's 2026 Gala — Charting New Horizons TOGETHER, on Sunday, November 8, 2026, at the beautiful Nonantum Resort in Kennebunkport, Maine.

This special afternoon event will celebrate a year of lighthouse successes, highlight exciting collaborations, and recognize incredible volunteers whose passion, dedication, and service help guide ALF’s mission forward.

This year’s theme celebrates the power of collaborations and the remarkable impact we can achieve when we work together to preserve, protect and chart new horizons for our historic lighthouses.

SAVE THE DATE:

Sunday, November 8, 2026

1:00–5:00 p.m.

Nonantum Resort
95 Ocean Ave.
Kennebunkport, Maine

Tickets and additional details are coming soon.

We look forward to seeing you there!

09/03/2026

Looking for some weekend FUN?

Then check out this amazing lighthouse cruise opportunity with the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company on Saturday, 9/5. A few tickets remain - reserve yours today!

Only a few spots left for this amazing cruise!

Book here: https://www.barharborwhales.com/lighthouse-cruises/

09/02/2026

"For every one of us there is an appeal in these isolated sentinels, suggesting hope and trust. Standing alone on the ocean highways, they represent the eternal watchfulness of their keepers, whose slogan through the ages has been vigilance." - Edward Rowe Snow, Famous Lighthouses of America, 1955

Owls Head Light's fourth order Fresnel lens aglow.

(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)

09/02/2026

We do very well to restore and preserve lighthouses, but we do even better when lighthouses are then shared with people near and far through educational public access programs.

The Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse, a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, excels at both preservation and public access/education, which is helping to ensure this historic treasure will be sustained well into the future!

Pomham Rocks Lighthouse is located in Riverside, Rhode Island.

09/01/2026

Lighthouses and their connections to the sea…

“From lighthouse restoration and education to light station climate resiliency and marine mammal protection initiatives, strategic collaborations with historic preservation and coastal conservation stakeholders are key to a brighter future for all that we hold dear.” – Bob Trapani, Jr., Executive Director, American Lighthouse Foundation

Shown here are representatives from the Essex National Heritage Commission, American Lighthouse Foundation and MotionInfo, aboard the Essex Heritage landing craft, “Naumkeag,” on August 4, 2026.

The group journeyed out to Bakers Island Lighthouse, located at the entrance to Salem Sound (five miles from Salem, MA), to install MotionInfo’s StationKeeper system inside the historic 1820 sentinel.

StationKeeper is an AIS-based technology designed to help protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale – cutting-edge technology that is presently hosted in a growing number of lighthouses from Maine to Florida.

Bakers Island Light Station

09/01/2026

"Digging potatoes and painting have been our occupations lately. Days are getting short and cooler, and soon we shall be gathered about the fire, telling of the beautiful summer and the good times we had." - from an excerpted letter by Ruel Walter Powers, Keeper, Perkins Island Lighthouse, Kennebec River, Maine, to the Courier Gazette newspaper on September 21, 1935.

Perkins Island Lighthouse is owned by the U.S. Coast Guard and licensed to the American Lighthouse Foundation.

(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)

08/31/2026

From this morning...a low tide view of the 1872 Whaleback Lighthouse.

The wave-swept sentinel, located in Kittery, Maine - at the entrance to the Piscataqua River, is owned by the American Lighthouse Foundation.

Whaleback Lighthouse remains an active aid to navigation and is maintained by the USCG Aids to Navigation Team, South Portland, Maine.

Great capture, Josh!

(Photo by Josh McPhail)

08/30/2026

Little River Lighthouse welcomed 50 to 60 people from the local Head of the Harbor Church today, on what proved to be a fine Sunday morning for a worship service at the island light station!

(Photo by Joe Dowling)