Two Lights State Park is a public recreation area occupying of

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

Cape Elizabeth Cape Elizabeth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The town is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine, metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 census, Cape Elizabeth had a population of 9,535 ...

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 ...

, that offers views of

Casco Bay Casco Bay is an bay, open bay of the Gulf of Maine on the coast of Maine in the United States. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's chart for Casco Bay marks the dividing line between the bay and the Gulf of Maine as running from ...

and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. 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 ...

, which opened in 1961, is named after the twin Cape Elizabeth Lights, although there are no lighthouses in the park itself. In addition to rocky headlands, the park includes the remains of a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

–era seacoast

battery Battery or batterie most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source * Battery indicator, a device whic ...

bunker and a

fire control tower A fire control tower is a structure located near the coastline, used to detect and locate enemy vessels offshore, direct fire upon them from coastal battery, coastal batteries, or adjust the aim of guns by spotting shell splashes. Fire control to ...

. It is managed by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.

History

;Geologic The park's ledges are made up of metamorphic rock that first accumulated as sediment at the bottom of the ocean during the

Silurian period The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

. The park's underlying bedrock belongs to the Kittery formation found in

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and along the Maine coast. ;Maritime The nearby twin lighthouses were built in 1828, but cannot be viewed from this park. The easternmost light is still active; the other was decommissioned in 1924, served as a fire control tower in World War II, and is now a private home. Although the lighthouses cannot be seen from within the park, they can be viewed from a turnaround at the end of Two Lights Road.

Edward Hopper Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realism painter and printmaker. He is one of America's most renowned artists and known for his skill in depicting modern American life and landscapes. Born in Nyack, New York, to a ...

made one of the towers the subject of his 1929 painting ''The Lighthouse at Two Lights,'' which was used on a U.S. postage stamp in 1970 commemorating the sesquicentennial of Maine statehood. ;Military During World War II, the park area was the Cape Elizabeth Military Reservation. The

coast defense Coastal management is defence against flooding and erosion, and techniques that stop erosion to claim lands. Protection against rising sea levels in the 21st century is crucial, as sea level rise accelerates due to climate change. Changes in s ...

battery in the park was Battery Construction Number (BCN) 201, designed for two 6-inch guns in shielded mounts that would be on the large concrete circles at each end of the bunker. As of 2016 an interpretive plaque on one of the gun positions shows the internal arrangement of the bunker. However, with the threat from surface ships nearly non-existent by the time the battery was completed, it was not armed. It was part of a modernization of the

Harbor Defenses of Portland The Harbor Defenses of Portland was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of Portland, Maine, the mouth of the Kennebec River, and surrounding areas from 1895 to 1950, beginni ...

, centered on Battery Steele on

Peaks Island Peaks Island is the most populous island in Casco Bay, Maine. It is part of the city of Portland and about from downtown. The island is served by Casco Bay Lines and has its own elementary school, library, and police station. It is the only ...

. A duplicate of Battery Steele, BCN 101 with two 16-inch guns, was planned for an area near the park but never built. USS ''Eagle 56'' (PE-56) exploded and sank a few miles east of the Cape Elizabeth Military Reservation on April 23, 1945. Despite some evidence of an enemy submarine in the area, a Court of Inquiry initially attributed this to a boiler explosion. However, in 2001 the Navy determined that ''Eagle 56'' was torpedoed by ''U-853'', a German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

that was later sunk in the Battle of Point Judith, Rhode Island on 5–6 May 1945, two days before Germany's surrender. Coastal artillery gun at Fort Columbia State Park

Coastal artillery gun at Fort Columbia State Park

Activities and amenities

The park offers a network of paths of nearly two miles, traversing both forested lands and seaside rock ledges. Facilities include benches along the shore, restrooms, playground, and picnic tables.

References

Additional reading

External links

Two Lights State Park
Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry {{authority control State parks of Maine Protected areas of Cumberland County, Maine Cape Elizabeth, Maine 1961 establishments in Maine Protected areas established in 1961 Parks in Cumberland County, Maine