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Isle au Haut Light - Visiting the last traditional lighthouse built in the state of Maine

Isle Au Haut Light (+44° 3' 54.00", -68° 39' 6.00") is located at Robinson Point, at the southern end of the passage between Isle au Haut and Kimball Island. Isle Au Haut (pronounced Ilaho, to rhyme with Idaho) is the English translation for High Island, the name given by Samuel Champlain when he was exploring the Maine coast in 1604.

Isle Au Haut Light was the last traditional lighthouse built in the state of Maine and is sometimes called Robinson Point Light. The lighthouse is 40 feet tall with a white granite and brick cylindrical upper section that sits on a conical granite block foundation. The tower is reached via a wooden catwalk. The two and a half story dwelling, oil house and storage shed sit slightly inland from the lighthouse. Today, the light is an active U.S. Coast Guard navigational aid with a characteristic of a flashing red light every four seconds with a white sector. The red light is visible for six nautical miles and the white light is visible for eight nautical miles. There is no fog signal.

Most lighthouse enthusiasts are familiar with Linda Greenlaw, the best-selling author of several maritime-themed books, including The Hungry Ocean. She is also one of the only female sword fishing boat captains on the East Coast. Greenlaw’s great-grandfather, Charles Robinson, sold the land (that now holds the lighthouse) to the government. Greenlaw spent summers at the keeper’s dwelling and wrote about it in her book The Lobster Chronicles; she still lives on the island today.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers built the lighthouse and accompanying buildings in 1907, and the light was first lit on Christmas Eve of that year. The lighthouse was automated in 1934 and Charles Robinson re-purchased the property, with the exception of the lighthouse. In 1986, Jeff and Judi Burke bought the property, except for the lighthouse, and converted the keeper’s house into a Bed and Breakfast inn, aptly named The Keepers House. Lighthouse fanatics everywhere flock to this location that even utilizes the old oil house as a guest room.

The light is now solar powered. A 250 mm has replaced the original fourth-order Fresnel lens, which is now on display at the Maine Lighthouse Museum here in Rockland. Under the Maine Lights Program, the lighthouse was turned over to the Town of Isle au Haut in 1998. The lighthouse was completely restored in 1999.

Isle Au Haut Light is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. To access the lighthouse, people can take the ferry/mail boat from Stonington to Isle au Haut and then walk a short distance (less than a mile) to the lighthouse.

We would like to thank Lynne A. Kennedy for granting us permission to use her images of Isle au Haut Light. You can view more images of Isle au Haut and Maine by visitng Lynne's Flickr page.