Photo Of The Day: January 4, 2009

The Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse sits about a mile offshore from Portland Head near the entrance to Portland Harbor. Surrounded by dangerous ledges, shipwrecks happened with unusual frequency in the 1800s. So in 1902, Congress appropriated funds for the building of a lighthouse on Ram Island Ledge. Work began in 1903 and was completed in July 1904, complicated by the fact that the base of the lighthouse could be built only at low tide.For more pictures of lighthouses, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.