Specialties: The Portland Observatory is the last Maritime Signal Tower in the country. Learn about Portland Maritime history while getting the best views in the entire city.
Docent let tours on the half hour during the daytime hours (Thursday to Monday). Self led tours in the evening (Tuesday to Thursday). Established in 1807. In 1807 Captain Lemuel Moody (1768-1846), ordered construction o...Specialties: The Portland Observatory is the last Maritime Signal Tower in the country. Learn about Portland Maritime history while getting the best views in the entire city.
Docent let tours on the half hour during the daytime hours (Thursday to Monday). Self led tours in the evening (Tuesday to Thursday). Established in 1807. In 1807 Captain Lemuel Moody (1768-1846), ordered construction of this octagonal, 86-foot high tower on Munjoy Hill to serve as a communication station for Portland's bustling harbor. It was a commercial venture designed to give a competitive edge to ship owners who paid Moody a subscription fee of $5.00 a year to alert them when their ships were arriving.
At the time, ships entering the harbor could not be seen from the docks of Portland until they rounded the point of land at Spring Point Ledge and were almost in the harbor.
With his powerful telescope at the top of the tower, sea captain-turned-entrepreneur Moody could identify incoming vessels as far away as 30 miles. Moody informed subscribing merchants by hoisting signal flags identifying their vessels.
The Observatory remained a working marine signal tower run by the Moody family until 1923 when the invention of the two-way radio made it obsolete.see more