Quoddy Head State Park is a park located four miles off Maine State Route 189 in Lubec, Maine on the easternmost point of land in the continental United States. On its 541 acres (219 ha), purchased by the state in 1962, the park features 5 miles (8 km) of hiking trails, extensive forests, two bogs, diverse habitat for rare plants, and the striking, red-and-white striped lighthouse tower of West Quoddy Head Light.
In 1808, West Quoddy Head Light became the easternmost lighthouse in the United States. Its light and fog cannon warned mariners of Quoddy's dangerous cliffs, ledges, and Sail Rock. Among the first to use a fog bell and later a steam-powered foghorn, this lighthouse greatly reduced shipwrecks in this foggy area, even as shipping increased. In 1858, the present red-and-white tower replaced the original. Monitored and serviced by the United States Coast Guard, its light still shines through its original third-order Fresnel lens. After automation in 1988, the light station became part of adjacent Quoddy Head State Park. The tower is closed, but visitors are welcome to enjoy the lighthouse grounds and explore the visitor center and museum run by the West Quoddy Head Light Keepers Association.
For a few weeks around the equinoxes, West Quoddy Head is the first location in the United States to see the sunrise.
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Famous quotes containing the words head, state and/or park:
“Standing on the bare ground,—my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space,—all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part and particle of God.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“During the Civil War the area became a refuge for service- dodging Texans, and gangs of bushwhackers, as they were called, hid in its fastnesses. Conscript details of the Confederate Army hunted the fugitives and occasional skirmishes resulted.”
—Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Is a park any better than a coal mine? What’s a mountain got that a slag pile hasn’t? What would you rather have in your garden—an almond tree or an oil well?”
—Jean Giraudoux (1882–1944)