Portland Breakwater Light

Portland Breakwater Light, or Bug Light, stands at the end of a breakwater in South Portland on Portland Harbor and is noted for its unusually classical design. A wooden lighthouse built in 1855 was replaced in 1875 by the present cast-iron tower, designed by Thomas U. Walter and modeled on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens. After Spring Point Ledge Light was built in 1897, its keepers tended both stations. World War II shipyard expansion and landfill reshaped the shoreline, reducing the beacon’s importance, and the light was decommissioned in 1943. Restored in 1989 and reactivated in 2002, it remains a landmark linked to both navigation and wartime shipbuilding.

Portland, Maine · United States