The "Nubble" is a small, rocky island a short distance off the eastern point of Cape Neddick, about two miles north of the entrance to the York River and York Harbor. In 1602, explorer Bartholomew Gosnold met with local Indians on the island and dubbed it "Savage Rock." The placement of a lighthouse on the Nubble had been recommended by many local mariners since 1807. An 1837 proposal was rejected on the grounds that there were already enough lights in the vicinity. Even after the wreck of the bark Isidore in 1842, north of the Nubble near Bald Head Cliff, it still took nearly four more decades before the lighthouse was established. The Isidore, according to legend, still reappears as a ghost ship with a phantom crew. Congress appropriated $15,000 for the building of a lighthouse on the Nubble in 1876. The 41-foot cast-iron tower, lined with brick, was first illuminated on July 1, 1879. At first, the lighthouse was painted reddish-brown, showing a fixed red light through a fourth order Fresnel lens. The distinctive red oil house was built in 1902, and the walkway connecting the lighthouse to the keeper's house was added in 1911. The station originally had a fog bell operated by automatic striking machinery. The skeleton frame bell tower was replaced in 1911 by a white pyramidal tower, itself torn down in 1961. For a time, the Nubble's 3,000 pound fog bell could be heard by the keepers at Boon Island six HL#410 |
Captains Cove 851 W Harbor Drive C, San Diego California 92101 
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