This is the Pumpkin Island lighthouse in a rain squall yesterday as fog approaches – the kind of weather in which the light was needed in 1855, when it entered federal service.
It was said that the light then could be seen in good weather with the naked eye from nine nautical miles away.
The light is just off the northeast tip of Little Deer Isle, near the entrance to Eggemoggin Reach. The Reach is a granite-ledged and island-clogged shortcut from the Penobscot Bay to the Atlantic Ocean; in winter, there can be significant patches of ice jutting from the Reach’s islands. The Reach is some of the best sailing water in the world during a clear day, but can be perilous during a foul day or dark night, even to boats with radar.
There was no radar but plenty of traffic in the Reach when the light went into service. Coastal cruisers sailed Down East Maine carrying timber, granite, housing goods, and other commercial cargo; they were the truckers of the time for this area. The island and light were owned and operated by the federal government until 1933. They were then sold to private owners and have remained in private hands.
Nonetheless, nobody seems to know why the Island is named Pumpkin; it is not shaped like one and we’ve found no reports of pumpkin farming there. Perhaps one of you can tell us the origin of its name. (Images taken in Little Deer Island, Maine, on April 1, 2022.)