Members from the local community and beyond gathered to celebrate Owls Head Light Station’s 200th anniversary on September 10, 2025.
(Photo by Dominic Trapani)
Owls Head Light Station celebrates 200 years of guiding mariners, volunteers embrace change in order to survive
By Sarah Thompson, Reporter, PenBay Pilot
OWLS HEAD — Two hundred years ago today, the Owls Head Lighthouse beamed its first light toward the sea with the intention of guiding mariners to shore and evolving into an assurance to those seeking tangible markers in an ocean of uncertainty. To mark the occasion, and each of those 200 years, the lighthouse opened its doors to visitors, former keepers, speakers, and cake.
(L to R) ALF Executive Director Bob Trapani, Jr., accepts a U.S. flag on behalf of the American Lighthouse Foundation from Chuck Mahaleris, State Office Representative for U.S. Senator Susan Collins. The flag was flown the day prior over the U.S. Capitol.
(Photo by Dominic Trapani)
Sept. 10, 2025, with Lighthouse Association Executive Director Bob Trapani, Jr., as emcee, folks gathered to enjoy birthday cake and listen to the words of a Coast Guard representative and representatives voicing letters from the offices of Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and U.S. senators Susan Collins and Angus King Jr., with Collins’ office gifting a U.S. flag that had flown above the Capitol. Streams of people made their way through the ceremony’s sitting area, past the brick flower planter (keeper Andy Germann) near the base of the hill that were once part of the outer layer of the lighthouse itself, past the memorial stones planted where flags once flew, and climbed the staircases to a second or third rendition of Maine’s 13th lighthouse along the coast of Maine.
To read the full story, clink on the PenBay Pilot news website link below!
(L to R) Molly Doyle, Staff Assistant for Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, U.S. House of Representative, Christina Valar Breen, Regional Representative for U.S. Senator Angus S. King, Jr., Chuck Mahaleris, State Office Representative for U.S. Senator Susan Collins and Bob Trapani, Jr., Executive Director for the American Lighthouse Foundation, look on as EM1 Chase Miller of U.S. Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team Southwest Harbor, Maine, talks about the importance of organizations like ALF who help the USCG with the care of lighthouses.
(Photo by Dominic Trapani)
Chuck Mahaleris, State Office Representative for U.S. Senator Susan Collins, read a letter from the Senator during the 200th anniversary celebration of Owls Head Light Station on 9/10/25.
(Photo by Dominic Trapani)
Christina Valar Breen, Regional Representative for U.S. Senator Angus S. King, Jr., read a letter from the Senator during the 200th anniversary celebration of Owls Head Light Station on 9/10/25.
(Photo by Dominic Trapani)
Molly Doyle, Staff Assistant for Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, U.S. House of Representative, read a letter from the Congresswoman during the 200th anniversary celebration of Owls Head Light Station on 9/10/25.
(Photo by Dominic Trapani)
Gorham Rowell, who served as a lighthouse keeper at Owls Head from 1974 to 1976, talked about his time at the light station during the 200th anniversary celebration.
(Photo by Dominic Trapani)
Andy Germann, who served as a lighthouse keeper at Owls Head from 1983 to 1987, talked about his time at the light station during the 200th anniversary celebration.
(Photo by Dominic Trapani)
CWO4 Paul Dilger, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.) talked about his time living at Owls Head Light Station (2003-06) while serving as the Commanding Officer of the USCG buoy tender ABBIE BURGESS.
(Photo by Dominic Trapani)
Phelps Bristol, an Owls Head resident who has served as an ALF/Owls Head Light volunteer since 2009, talked about the station’s history and the importance of volunteering at the lighthouse.
(Photo by Dominic Trapani)
Bob Trapani, Jr., ALF Executive Director, talked about the history of the lighthouse and shared his thoughts on the importance of all of us working together to ensure Owls Head Light Station is preserved the next 100 years.
(Photo by Dominic Trapani)
