Portland Head Light was first petitioned in 1786, when the District of Maine was still a part of Massachusetts.  The merchants of Portland requested the lighthouse and construction was begun the following year.  Lack of funding caused the building to be curtailed until George Washington became President and the Federal Government took over construction and operation of all lighthouses.

In 1789, construction of Portland Head Light was resumed when Congress appropriated $1,500 for its completion.  Still, the lighthouse was built with rubble stone and brick, and the 80-foot tower outfitted with a second order Fresnel lens.  With its single story keeper’s house, the first sentinel to be built on the Maine coast and the first tower to be completed by the US Government was officially placed in service in January 1791.

Keepers regarded Portland Head Light as one of the most favorable assignments in all the system.  It was neither isolated nor lonely, for almost from it’s beginning, tourists and artists visited the lighthouse.  Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who was born in Portland, spent many hours sitting on the rocks beneath the tower and was inspired by Portland Head in 1849 to write the beautiful tome

The Lighthouse
The rocky ledge runs far into the sea,
And on its outer point, some miles away,
The lighthouse lifts its massive masonry,
A pillar of fire by night, of cloud by day. 

Many years later, famed American painter Edward Hopper further immortalized the lighthouse on canvas.  Over the last two centuries, many writers and artists have been inspired by the majesty of Portland Head, and today, some 400,000 visitors make a pilgrimage to the sentinel every year.

The lighthouse has undergone many changes, including a period when the tower was shortened by 20 feet and a fourth order lens installed.  Public outcry brought back the 20 feet and the restoration of the more powerful second order lens.  In 1989, the beacon was automated with a DCB-224 airport-style revolving light, and after 200 years, the era of keepers came to an end.