Where is Ram Island light?: Newly sold lighthouse to be added to the tax rolls of Cape Elizabeth or Portland | Portland Press Herald

Ramp Island Ledge Light

Ram Island Ledge Light will move onto the tax rolls because of its pending sale from the federal government to a doctor from Windham.

The question is, which tax rolls?

According to the online auction site set up by the U.S. General Services Administration, the lighthouse is at the entrance to Portland Harbor, off Cape Elizabeth.

The site says its street address is “Cumberland County,” and the city is Cape Elizabeth.

That’s news to Cape Elizabeth's town manager.

“We don’t believe it’s in Cape Elizabeth,” said Mike McGovern. “We believe it’s in the city of Portland.”

Portland’s tax assessor, Richard Blackburn, said McGovern is probably right.

“There have been some questions” about which municipality the lighthouse is in, Blackburn said, and those questions have never been answered.

Click for the rest of this story by Edward D. Murphy in the Portland Press Herald.