15. Halfway Rock is among the most remote lighthouses in the world
A barren rock shelf halfway between Cape Elizabeth to the southwest and Cape Small to the northwest opposite the former is the location of Halfway Rock Light, which marks the entrance to Maine’s Casco Bay. The rock upon which the lighthouse sits is ten feet above the tide line at high tide, but difficult to see in Maine’s often gray, foggy weather. After several ships went aground on the rock it was determined that a light was a necessity and in 1871 a light finally told mariners of the location of the rock shelf, as well as allowing them to plot their location in relation to the aforementioned capes. In 1887 the facility was expanded to include fog bells, since the light was often obscured by the density of the fog. In 1905 a steam horn replaced the bells. The lighthouse keepers originally lived within the tower, later, quarters outside of the tower were built.
Halfway Rock was considered so remote that the Coast Guard considered it “stag duty”. Married men were discouraged from working there, since their spouses could not accompany them. Halfway Rock was desolate, remote, often cheerless, and the only reward for the lighthouse keepers was the bleak beauty of Casco Bay, a decidedly acquired taste. In 1975 the lighthouse was fully automated and the keepers were removed once and for all. In 1988 Halfway Rock Light was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and it has since been purchased by private interest intent on restoring the lighthouse and its outbuildings for their own use. They were no doubt aware that in 1883 one of the keeper’s assigned to the rock on which the lighthouse stands grew so weary of the isolation that he refused to speak to his team mates for weeks, and was eventually forced to resign after being designated a security and safety risk.
