City: Stockton Springs, ME

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (207) 567-3356

Address: Fort Point Rd.

Description: Many of the roads that take a right off coastal U.S. Route 1 and wend their way down peninsulas hold little-known treasures on them, and Fort Point State Park in Stockton Springs is one such place. The 154-acre state park features a mile of shoreline at the point where the Penobscot River floods into the ocean, a 200-foot pier for fishing, trails for exploring, the earthworks that remain from historic Fort Pownall, and Fort Point Light. The 31-foot, square white tower was erected in 1836 (and rebuilt in 1857) by order of President Andrew Jackson to provide safe passage for boats bound for Bangor, at that time a major timber port. Besides the keeper’s house and other outbuildings, the complex here includes a cool 1890 bell tower in the shape of an obelisk that’s on the National Register of Historic Places. The park is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day.