About The

Cuckolds

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Property Description and Supporting Documentation 

The Cuckolds are two rock ledges located at approximately North Latitude 43.49.428; and West Longitude 069.39.071, or 3/8 mile South of Cape Newagen on the southern tip of Southport Island, Maine. 

The lighthouse is built about 15 feet above high water at its highest point. In 1892, a fog signal station was constructed on a semicircular granite foundation on the highest part of the island. A wooden light tower was mounted on the brick fog signal building in 1907.  No other buildings remain on the island. 

Twelve granite steps lead from the ground to the first level  of the building. To the right of the steps, a doorway leads to the storeroom/cistern area inside the granite foundation. A modern steel door provides access at the top of the stairs.  The main level contains equipment related to the aids to navigation.  This is the most open of the floors, and there are 314 square feet of space with 20 feet of headroom, according to the Coast Guard Report of Excess. 

The floor is concrete and the walls are brick. The original plaster lath ceiling is now covered with a suspended ceiling.  One window is been covered over; two others to the east now have Lexan installed, allowing light to pass through.  A door from this level leads to a set of wooden stairs that provide access to a service room and the light tower.  The service room, located under the building's asphalt shingle roof, is oddly shaped. There is a small storage closet and on old wooden bench/cabinet.  The walls and ceiling are plastered. 

A wooden ladder leads to the lantern room where q VRB-25 optic is currently in use. There is a lantern gallery deck and iron railing. 

On the ground level, there is a brick cistern.  Also at ground level, there are creosote timber bulkheads, supported by anchored iron rod tiebacks, on both the east and west sides.  The semicircular granite foundation of the building is 36 feet in diameter and 12 feet high. The front part of the roof is supported is by cast iron columns.

The property includes a helipad. There is only a small amount of soil and grass near the lighthouse; the vast majority of the island is rock.  In the autumn, some Queen Anne’s lace and goldenrod bloom in the ruins among the rocks. 

The automated light, 59 feet above mean high water, remains an active aid to navigation. There is also an active, automated fog signal.  Both are powered by solar panels mounted on a separate steel framework. 

Historical Value

The Cuckolds is one of the last lights built by Royal Luther, who became a Southport resident and married an islander.   It is said that Mr. Luther was responsible for construction of about 80 percent of the lighthouses on the New England coast, including sister lighthouses The Graves and Ram Island ledge.  The Cuckolds is on the National Register of Historic Places. 

A tripod-type day beacon was located on the Cuckolds since at least 1874. In 1890 a recommendation was made for a fog signal station, stating that the Cuckolds "are dangerous of approach on their southern side on account of the reefs in that direction, and the shoals which extend half a mile to the westward of the western rock... They are much dreaded by mariners in thick weather." 

In 1902 a new oil-powered fog signal was installed. The Cuckolds was automated in 1975. Its fourth order Fresnel lens is now on display at the Lighthouse Museum in Rockland.  The lens is a rare American-made Fresnel lens from the MacBeth Glass Company of Pittsburgh. 

The Keeper’s dwelling was removed in the late 1970s.  The light remains in service., and still exhibits a flashing white light as an active aid to navigation. It can be seen by mariners in the Gulf of Maine, from excursion boats and cruise ships entering or leaving Boothbay Harbor, and is a beacon to commercial shipping in the area. 

Access and Relationship to Surrounds

Surrounded by deep water exposed to the open ocean, the light station is a prominent landmark for Southport Island, visible from neighboring islands, and much of the Boothbay Harbor region. Its relationship to surrounding property is visual:  it is a navigation signal, a Southport landmark, and shares a place with the Burnt Island light and Rams Island light as visual symbols of the region, attracting thousands of seasonal residents and visitors from around the world.   

Public access to the light station will be encouraged on a schedule which will provide for assisted landings on the island’s ways.  Tides, currents, and typically heavy weather make safe, unassisted landings difficult, for any but the most experienced mariners.  On calm days, the island can be reached by experienced mariners, with local knowledge, capable of landing on the ways. 

On the island, all the facilities would be available for public access.  Battery storage areas in the light tower and the revenue producing residential suite may be limited, open to the public on a scheduled basis in company with a Cuckolds docent. 

There is a mooring located about 100 yards off the island, which will be maintained to support access to the ways.  Shore-side access is from Cape Newagen, where there is a small harbor, a mooring field, and Southport Town Landing.  Our rehabilitation plan includes securing a wooden boat—a peapod, dory, or pulling boat—capable of traveling from Southport to the Cuckolds, and landing visitors on the island.  We will also place an information kiosk at the Town Landing where the town of Southport maintains public parking.  In relationship with Southport’s historic Hendricks Hill Museum, our Cuckolds docents will provide public access to historically accurate information, photographs, and interpretive education materials.