Portland Head Light lighthouse in in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, USA

Historic headland

The Portland Head Light rises from a rocky cape not within the same-named Maine municipality but in nearby Cape Elizabeth. The lighthouse is older than the state itself: It was first lit in 1791, when Maine was still a part of Massachusetts, George Washington was president, and the beacon’s fuel was whale oil. Portland Head was among the earliest federally funded projects in the United States, completed with a $1,500 appropriation passed by congress at President Washington’s urging.