Quoddy Head State Park is a public recreation area in

Lubec Lubec ( ) is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. It is the easternmost municipality in the contiguous U.S. (see extreme points of the United States) and is the country's closest continental location to Africa. The town, with a po ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, located on the easternmost point of land in the continental

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. On its , purchased by the state in 1962, the

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

features of hiking trails, extensive forests, two bogs, diverse habitat for rare plants, and the striking, red-and-white striped lighthouse tower of West Quoddy Head Light. In 1808, West Quoddy Head Light became the easternmost

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

in the United States. Its light and fog cannon warned mariners of Quoddy's dangerous cliffs, ledges, and Sail Rock. Among the first to use a fog bell and later a steam-powered

foghorn A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. ...

, this lighthouse greatly reduced shipwrecks in this foggy area, even as shipping increased. In 1858, the present red-and-white tower replaced the original. Monitored and serviced by the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

, its light still shines through its original third-order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens (optics), lens which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional lens by dividing the lens into a set of concentric annular sections. The simpler Dioptrics, d ...

. After automation in 1988, the light station became part of adjacent Quoddy Head State Park. A

visitor center A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center or tourist information centre is a physical location that provides information to tourists. Types A visitor center may be a Civic c ...

and museum in the former light keeper's quarters are run by the West Quoddy Head Light Keepers Association. The tower is closed to visitors. For a few weeks around the

equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun appears directly above the equator, rather than to its north or south. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise directly east and set directly west. This occurs twice each year, arou ...

es, West Quoddy Head is the first location in the United States to see the sunrise. Analysis by Blanton C. Wiggin, published in the January 1972 issue of ''

Yankee Magazine ''Yankee'' is a bimonthly (once every two months) magazine about lifestyle, travel and culture in the New England region of the United States, based in Dublin, New Hampshire. The first issue appeared in September 1935. It has a paid circulation ...

''. Quoddy Head State Park is also the closest geographic point in the United States to the African continent.

Gallery

File:Line2848 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg, A foggy day on the rocky coast File:Line2823 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg, The light and keeper's house File:West Quoddy Head Light - closeup.jpg, The light on a sunny day File:Quoddy Head State Park - panoramio (1).jpg, Like much of Maine, the coast at Quoddy Head is rocky West Quoddy Marker.jpg, Most Eastern Point in the USA marker File:Quoddy Head Stairs.jpg, Staircase to the beach

References

External links

Quoddy Head State Park
Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Quoddy Head State Park Guide & Map
Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry {{authority control State parks of Maine Protected areas of Washington County, Maine Lubec, Maine