Rockland Breakwater, Harbor breakwater and lighthouse in Rockland, United States.

The Rockland Breakwater is a massive granite structure built to protect the harbor from rough ocean waves and heavy storms. A lighthouse sits at the far end, serving as a navigation guide for vessels entering the water.

Federal funding for a breakwater at Rockland was approved in 1880, after major storms in the 1850s exposed the harbor's vulnerability to northeast winds. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the structure between 1880 and 1900 from locally quarried granite, about 700,000 tons of rock, and added the lighthouse at its end in 1902. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

The breakwater is a public walkway from Jameson Point to the 1902 lighthouse at its end, used by residents and visitors for walking and fishing. Its granite came from local quarries, and the structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The walkway is open to the public but requires sturdy shoes and care on wet or slippery surfaces. Visit during dry weather and daylight hours when the path is safest to navigate.

The breakwater is thought to be the only 19th-century Army Corps breakwater built entirely from local stone. Its roughly 700,000 tons of granite came from quarries near Rockland, and the seaward face slopes more gently than the harbor side to absorb wave impact.