Avery Rock Lighthouse

Location: ON SOUTHERLY END OF AVERY ROCK, IN MACHIAS BAY, MAINE
Station Established: 1875
First Lit: Oct. 1875
Operational: No
Automated: 1926
Deactivated: Destroyed by a storm in 1946
Foundation Material: 
Construction Material: Brick and wood
Tower Shape: White square tower
Markings: White square tower rising from a square dwelling
Relationship to Other Structures: Attached
Original Lens: 
Tower Height: 34 feet
Range: 13 miles
Original Optic: Fourth Order Fresnel lens 
Present Optic: A buoy in the water 100 from the site of the lighthouse.
Characteristics: White flash every 6 seconds-In 1931 it was a fixed red.
First Keeper: Warren A. Murch
Current Use: Gone- Destroyed by a storm
Fog Signal: Fog Bell (1931) 1 stroke every 10 seconds

Historical Information:

• President Ulysses S. Grant in 1874 authorized the establishment of Avery Rock Light on a barren rock at the south end of Machias Bay. Three miles from the mainland.
• The house was so exposed to the elements that it had 18 inch walls and four inch thick shutters.
• In 1902 the light was upgraded with the installation of a Fifth Order Frensel Lens- showing a fixed red light.
• The Light was demolished by a storm in 1946. A buoy floating in 50’ of water 100 yards from the site of the lighthouse replaced the light.

Researched and written by Linda Herman, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.