SUMMARY: Moose Peak Light (circa 1827) is located on Mistake Island, just east of Great Wass Island, Maine, at the southern entrance to Eastern Bay, five nautical miles southeast of Jonesport. The existing building was constructed in 1851. The light, which has been automated since 1972, was sold at auction in January 2013 to a Connecticut resident.
MORE INFORMATION: Moose Peak Light Station Facts & Figures
- Station Established: 1826
- First Lit: 1851
- Construction: Material - Brick, Masonry & Stone Foundation | Shape - Cylindrical Tower
- Markings: White with black trim
- Fog Signal: Horn - Two blasts every 30 seconds, MRASS (mariner activated system)
- Operation: Automated: 1972
- Height: Tower - 57 Feet | Focal Plane - 72 Feet
- Range: 20 Nautical Miles (23 Miles)
- Optics: Earlier - Second-Order Fresnel Lens (1856) |Â Current - Solar Powered VRB-25
- Characteristic: Flashing white every 30 seconds
- Other Existing Buildings: Fog Signal Building
- Current Ownership: The light station and 5.89 acres are privately owned by Jeremey Richardson & Miriam Davidson
- Maintenance & Preservation: Jeremey Richardson & Miriam Davidson. The remaining 23 acres of Mistake Island, apart from the lighthouse property, is managed by the Nature Conservancy.
Visitor & Tour Information: The lighthouse is not open to the public. It is still an active aid to navigation and can be seen distantly from Great Wass Island. The light is best seen by private boat or from the air. Landing on the Nature Conservancy managed island is permitted as long as you stay on the boardwalk leading to the lighthouse. Great Wass Island and Mistake Island tours are available from Coastal Cruises in Jonesport (207-598-7473). Lighthouse excursions past Moose Peak Lighthouse have been offered by Bar Harbor Whale Watch (207-288-2386) in recent years.
Lighthouse Trivia: A fog signal house with a powerful diaphragm fog horn was built in 1912. In 1916, the signal had to be sounded for 181 hours in a row. Moose Peak Light keepers logged more hours of dense fog than any other Maine light station between 1918 and 1934. The island had an average of 1,607 hours of fog per year, which means it was foggy about 20% of the time.
