52 Maine lighthouses open their doors for a day

Blink… Blink… Blink…day and night, in rain, sunshine, snow and especially fog…mariners depend on lighthouses and tourists flock to their scenic locations, cameras at the ready. Except when the light station is remote or off-limits. But on Saturday, Sept. 12, you can explore 52 of the 68 iconic landmarks in the State of Maine during the nation’s largest -- and Maine’s first - - Open Lighthouse Day.

From 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., the light stations will be open to the public, including several normally seen only by boat or from a distance, including Matinicus Rock, Franklin Island, Egg Rock and Boon Island in York. Or visit easier to reach lighthouses that dot the coast from Portland Head Light to Dice Head in Castine and West Quoddy Head Light in Lubec, near Canada.

The event is coordinated by the US Coast Guard, Maine Office of Tourism, and the American Lighthouse Foundation. Surrounding communities will celebrate their maritime heritage with stories of life on isolated rocky islands, shipwrecks and ghosts. (Folks swear the lighthouses are haunted at Woods Island in Biddeford, Hendricks Head in West Southport and Owls Head near Rockland.) Museums and visitor centers at Pemaquid Point, Marshall Point (Port Clyde), Grindle Point and other popular destinations will be open so you can pore over historic memorabilia and learn about what it took to man a lighthouse and how keepers and their families lived in less than romantic conditions. Today all but one of of New England’s lighthouses are automated but that doesn’t make them any less attractive.

Beginning 52 days before Maine Open Lighthouse Day, one light per day is featured at www.lighthouseday.com alongside information on which lights will be open to the public and how to reach them.

Posted by Janet Mendelsohn, Globe Correspondent

File photo of Portland Head Light by Mark Wilson/Globe Staff