Massachusetts - Cape Ann (Thacher's Island) Lighthouses

These lighthouses are located at Rockport, MA. - The Commonwealth of Massachusetts established a twin-light station on the northeast side of Thacher's Island. The original rubble masonry lighthouses, built in 1771, stood 298 yards apart from each other. The north tower, 39 feet high and the south tower 35 feet high were oriented in a northeast-southwest alignment. They lasted until 1861 before being replaced by a pair of 124-foot high cut granite structures. Each are 30 feet in diameter at the base, 18 feet at the top, and were equipped with first-order Fresnel lenses. Both towers displayed fixed white lights. When the beacon in the north tower was extinguished in 1932, as an efficiency move, the south tower light was changed to a more intense flashing white beam. Before my visit here in 2001, the light had been changed to red.

Thacher's Island became the property of the Town of Rockport in 1980, the same year the south light was automated. At the time of my 2001 visit, the property was managed by the Thacher4's Island Association in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. One of its notable achievements was the successful restoration of the long-neglected north tower, which was relighted in 1989 as a private aid to navigation. That year, and for the next several years, the Association operated a launch for island visitors until a winter storm of 1995 destroyed the landing ramp. The group hoped to renew the trips once the landing area was restored, and most likely has done so by now.

Massachusetts - Newburyport Harbor Lighthouse

The Newburyport Harbor Lighthouse is located at Plum Island, MA. - The original lights were a pair of wood-framed range lights built in 1783 on the dunes at the north end of Plum Island, on the south side of the river's mouth. When mariners aligned the two lights, it meant they were safely in the channel over Newburyport bar and proceeding into the harbor.

Because storms and tides frequently altered the channel's course, the towers were made so they could be moved over the sand. Not an easy task, but apparently a quite regular one. The first towers were replaced in 1838 by a pair of octagonal structures, also portable, and these were repositioned on several occasions during ensuing years. One government report stated, "The towers, being tall and unwieldy, require a strong force of men to shift them from one position to another ... and the frequent necessity of so doing may be estimated by the fact that during nine years past they have both been moved upwards of three thousand feet."

By 1890, the channel had so changed course, the front range light was considered useless and was discontinued. Eight years later, a 35-foot conical, wood-frame tower was built to replace the range lights. The above white shingled structure is the one that was in place at the time of my visit in 2001. It was automated in 1951 and shined a green light from 50 feet above the sea. Shore structures prevent the beacon from being seen in certain sectors to the south and northwest of its location.

Massachusetts - Hospital Point Range Front Lighthouse

This lighthouse is located at Beverly, MA.  The first lighthouse here was built in 1872 on the grounds of a one-time smallpox hospital. The lighthouse was a primitive wooden structure used only until the permanent pyramidal brick tower was completed the following year. From the first, Hospital Point Light has essentially been a range light. It was designed to show brightest along the center of the main ship channel between Baker and Little Misery Islands. The original light is a Federal-style lighthouse. The flashing white front beacon is 73 feet above the sea level and is visible all around. The Hospital Point Range Front light was automated in 1947, and the station became quarters for the First Coast Guard Commander. At the time of my visit here in 2001, this was an active light.

Be sure to see the post below about the Hospital Point Range Rear Light. It works in conjunction with the above light to enable mariners safe entry into the channel.

Massachusetts - Hospital Point Range Rear Light

This rear range light is located in a church steeple at Beverly, MA.  In 1927, the light was placed in the steeple of this 1801 First Baptist Church to work with the front range light. This rear range light is one mile to the west-northwest of the Hospital Point Range Front Lighthouse. The church light, at 183 feet up, can be seen only two degrees either side of the range line. By aligning the two, mariners knew they were safely in the middle of the channel. Note the square window about mid-way up the church steeple. This is location of the light. At the time of my visit here in 2001, this was an active rear range light.

Massachusetts - Straitsmouth Island Lighthouse

This lighthouse is located at Rockport Harbor, Cape Ann, MA. In 1835 a 19-foot cylindrical lighthouse was erected on the northeastern point of the island. It served as a guide to vessels running through the narrow channel between Thachere's Island. In 1897, the old brick and mortar tower was superseded by a similar, but taller structure. The original had stood directly on an open ledge; the replacement was mounted on an eight-foot, cut-granite foundation, bringing the overall height to 37 feet. At the time of my visit here in 1997, the keepers house was still standing, but reported as badly deteriorated. The Massachusetts Audubon Society maintained the island as part of the Ipswich Wildlife Sanctuary.

Massachusetts - Ten-Pound Island Lighthouse

The Ten-Pound Island Lighthouse is located at Gloucster, MA. The first light built here in 1821 was a 20-foot rubble masonry structure with a stone house nearby for the keeper and a covered walkway between the two. The light station was rebuilt in 1881 when the present 30-foot, brown, cast-iron tower was erected.

The light at Ten Pound Island was automated in 1956. Twelve years later, the beacon was relocated to a nearby skeletal tower rising from a concrete house. In the meantime, the keeper's dwelling and oil storage building were allowed to fall into ruin, and the property was returned to the town of Gloucester, the original owner. Working to get the lighthouse named to the National Register of Historic Places, the city obtained matching grant money to restore and relight the light. The tower color was changed to white. On August 7, 1989, the light was turned on as a private aid to navigation. It shows a red light for six seconds, followed by an equal period of darkness. At the time of my visit in 1997, this was an active light.

Massachusetts - Eastern Point Lighthouse

The Eastern Point Lighthouse is located at Gloucester, MA.  -  The lighthouse at Eastern Point is the third to stand on this granite promontory. The first was a stone tower put up in 1832 to aide the great growing fleet of Gloucester fisherman. Dampness quickly worked into the structure, causing multiple problems. Keeper, Samuel Wonson, complained in 1842 that the tower "leaks in every direction." He indicated that it was "covered with ice in winter and green mold in summer" and "the rain blows in under the deck of the lantern room and runs through the walls." It had to be replaced twice - first in 1848 and again in 1890. Today's light shines from a cylindrical brick structure, 36 feet high and painted white. It is connected by a covered walkway to a two-story keeper's house which was erected in 1879 and lived in by a Coast Guard family. At the time of my visit here in 1997, this was an active lighthouse. If you click on the picture, the larger view will show the covered walkway and buildings more vivid.

Massachusetts - Bakers Island Lighthouse

The Bakers Island Lighthouse is located at Salem Harbor, MA.  -  The original twin-lights station, built in 1798 on the rocky 60-acre Bakers Island, were crude wooden structures attached to either end of the keeper's house. Dampness caused one to rot so much that its light was discontinued in 1817. This sparked ship-masters' complaints that the single beacon created confusion with Boston Light located to the south. In response , the Lighthouse Board reestablished the second light as a stop-gap, while it made plans for two new towers.

The second set of Bakers Island lighthouses were built in 1821 and were white, conical rubble-stone structures. One was built taller than the other, so their lights could shine from different heights for easier identification. The Mariners quickly dubbed them "Mr and Mrs Baker."

The shorter tower was taken down in the late 1800s, and the taller equipped with a stronger beacon. The light was automated in 1972. It shines an alternating white and red light from 111 feet above the water. The station has been leased to the Bakers Island Association, which oversees the entire island. At the time of my visit here in 1997, this was an active light.

Massachusetts - Fort Pickering Lighthouse

The Fort Pickering Lighthouse is located at Salem, MA. It served as an official aid to navigation for only a quarter of a century. It is one of three lighthouses built in an around Salem during the early 1870's. Its conical tower and ten-sided lantern stands atop a concrete base. The cast-iron tower, brick-lined inside, was originally painted brown and connected to shore by a white bridge. As shipping declined in the late 19th century, usefulness of the light diminished, and its use was discontinued in 1897. The tiny tower, since painted white, is all that remains of the station. The keeper's house, service buildings, and footbridge have all been removed. At the time of my visit in 1997, the light, then solar-powered, was operated by the City of Salem as a private aid to navigation.

Massachusetts - Marblehead Lighthouse

This lighthouse is located at Marblehead, MA. The original station here in 1835 consisted of a brick tower, only 20 feet tall, and a nearby keeper's dwelling. Between the two was a 100-foot covered walkway. By 1880 sizable shore-front cottages had sprung up around the point, and they all but obscured the beacon to vessels approaching from the south. As a remedy, the Lighthouse Board erected a 100-foot mast between the tower and house, and rigged it with an auxiliary lantern light. Mariners complained that the new arrangement was unsatisfactory.

In 1896, the Board built this permanent structure, a square pyramidal iron tower, unlike any other New England lighthouse. Standing 130 feet tall, the brown skeleton-like structure surrounds a central cast-iron cylinder whose 105 steps spiral up to the black lantern room deck.

The Coast Guard, in 1948, made preliminary plans to do away with the light station and tear down the tower. Instead, they sold the structure and surrounding grounds to a local citizen, who donated it to the town of Marbelhead. At the time of my visit here in 1997, the area was part of the Chandler Hovey Park.

Massachusetts - Scituate Lighthouse

This lighthouse is located at Scituate, MA. The Lighthouse Service contracted for a 24-foot octagonal granite tower, backed with rubblestone, at the north side of the entrance to Scituate Harbor in 1811. The new light soon caused as much confusion as it provided help to the mariners. Skippers spied Scituate's fixed white signal, thinking they were approaching the Boston Light. To differentiate the two stations, the US Lighthouse Service officials added a 14-foot section of brick work to elevate Scituate's Light. Then they installed a second beacon, fixed red, in the east side of the tower wall. But the crimson beam was feeble, and from any appreciable distance offshore the two colors blended into one. The ship wrecks continued. The solution lay in the construction of the Minot's Ledge Lighthouse. As soon as the spindle legged Minot's went into service, Scituate Light was turned off. But when the former went down in the great storm of 1851, the Scituate beacon was reestablished and remained lit until the replacement structure for Minot's was finished in 1860.

The Scituate Lighthouse was put up for sale in 1916 and purchased by the Town of Scituate the following year. After providing periodic maintenance to both the tower and keeper's house, civic leaders made the Scituate Historical Society the light's caretaker in 1968. That same year the organization succeeded in having the treasured landmark added to the National Register of Historic Places, and later the light relighted as a private light. At the time of my visit here in 2001, this was an active lighthouse.

A special note about the 1811 Scituate Lighthouse. Simon Bates was the initial keeper. During the War of 1812, Bates' two daughters, Rebecca and Abigail, by themselves, saved the town from possible destruction at the hands of a British warship. In September 1814, the man of war La Hogue anchored and several boatloads of soldiers put off for shore. Watching the enemy movement from the tower, the Bates girls, alone at the station, sprang into action. Grabbing a drum and fife, the children dashed into nearby cover and began playing with all the gusto they could muster. The shrill notes and rhythmical beat soon reached the ears of the startled British commander, who must have surmised that American troops were marshaling to meet his landing party. He promptly sounded a signal ordering his long-boats back to the ship. The La Hogue sailed away, the town was spared, and the Bates girls have since been fondly remembered by towns people as "The American Army of Two". Although the name Bates is synonymous with mine, research did not reveal any relationship to Simon Bates.

Massachusetts - Derby Wharf Lighthouse

The Derby Wharf Lighthouse is located at Salem, MA.  A portion of the old Salem waterfront, encompassing a remarkable cluster of working waterfront buildings and wharves, has been designated a National Historic Maritime Site. Within that district is 18th century Derby Wharf, extending a half-mile into the South River on the northwest side of Salem's inner harbor. The earth and stone landing dates from before Revolutionary war days and is the last of some 50 wharves that once dominated the waterfront.

At the end of the pier stands the windowless Derby Wharf Lighthouse, built in 1871. It is a square squat 25-foot tall brick structure housing a fixed red light. Because the lighthouse stood in a busy urban area, the federal government saw no need to provide living quarters for a keeper. Instead, the beacon was tended by a lamplighter.

After the light was shut down in 1977, jurisdiction was conveyed to the National Park Service. For several years the derelict structure suffered from vandalism and neglect. Later it was rescued and restored by the nonprofit group "The Friends of Salem Maritime." They were also responsible for having a new solar-powered optic installed in the tower and lighted in 1983 as a private aid to navigation. At the time of my visit in 2001, this was still an active lighthouse.

Massachusetts - Boston Lighthouse

The Boston Lighthouse is located at Boston, MA. It is North America's oldest lighthouse and has been in service over 295 years - 370 since the first beacon was lit in 1641. The venerable structure is located about 9 miles from downtown Boston. It is situated on the southeast side of Little Brewster Island at the entrance to Boston Harbor.

The original tower was built of granite blocks in 1716 and contained a wooden interior. Fire partially damaged the structure in 1751. Then, during the American Revolution, the tower was blown up by the British. It was rebuilt of rubble masonry to a height of 66 feet in 1783, and reinforced with wrought iron bands, "to prevent its walls from bulging out and falling to pieces." Over the years, constant bouts with moisture so weakened the structure that it was given a major restoration in 1859. The inside was lined with brick and an additional 15 feet was added to its height. Today, the conical white shaft beams a flashing white light from 102 feet above sea level. Boston Lighthouse forms the centerpiece of the seal of the nearby Town of Hull. In 1989, Congress declared Boston Lighthouse would be permanently manned. It is the only station in the country afforded this status. More recently, Little Brewster Island has become part of Boston Islands State Park. While the Coast Guard continues operating the light station, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts intends to provide interpretive exhibits and public access to the island. This lighthouse was active and manned by the Coast Guard at the time of my visit in 2001.

Massachusetts - Minot's Ledge Lighthouse

The Minot's Ledge Lighthouse is located off-shore at Cohasset, MA. This lighthouse was the nation's first lighthouse to be constructed on an exposed, off-shore spot, a ledge fully submerged at high tide.

The first Minot Ledge Lighthouse was built in 1850 and stood on nine steel piles, supporting a keeper's quarters and lantern room that reached 75 feet above the sea. The light barley survived 15 months before a furious 1851 storm toppled it into the sea and claimed the lives of two assistant keepers. Work began on the replacement in 1855, and over the next five years crews constructed a rugged 97-foot shaft of gray granite blocks, dovetailed together and fastened with steel pins. The foundation stones, securely bolted to the underlying ledge, were laid on a carefully prepared bed fully two feet below the low tide mark. The first 20 courses, to a height of 40 feet, were solid stone. The next 20 encompassed the light keeper's living area, work space, and storerooms. The lighthouse was activated in 1860, and the remarkable engineering effort has been hailed as the greatest in the history of lighthouse construction. The tower has firmly withstood the ocean's direct assault ever since, despite the fact waves sometimes engulf the entire structure and break cleanly over the top.

In 1894, the Minot Ledge beacon was altered from a fixed white light to flashing, with a 1-4-3 sequence that local residents have traditionally called the "I love you" lighthouse. The light was automated in 1947 and has operated on solar power since 1983. This was still an active lighthouse at the time of my visit in 2001.  It sets far enough offshore that I used a 500mm lens in order to capture this picture.

Massachusetts - Plymouth Lighthouse

The Plymouth Lighthouse is located at Plymouth, MA. It stands at the southern tip of a sandy peninsula known since Pilgrim days as "The Gurnet." (The word "gurnet" derives from a fish of the same name and plentiful along the Devonshire coast of England.) It was the site of the first "twin light" station in today's United States. John and Hannah Thomas owned the land where the Commonwealth of Massachusetts established the two lighthouses in 1768, essentially a small wooden house with a lantern attached to either end of the roof. John, and later his widow, operated the station for several years, giving Hannah the distinction of being the country's first female light keeper.

Both wooden towers were destroyed by a fire in 1801. They were temporarily replaced by a single beacon, while a second set of towers, 30 feet apart, were built in 1803. These, in turn, were superseded in 1842 with a pair of 34-foot pyramidal ones, used also as range lights to clear Browns Bank. In the 1920s, the Bureau of Lighthouses concluded its push to do away with twin-light stations. Plymouth's northeast tower was deactivated in 1924 and taken down. The southern light, shown above, was automated in 1986 and since operates on solar power. In December 1998, the Coast Guard relocated the lighthouse further back from the edge of the eroding dune. At the time of my visit in 2001, this lighthouse was active. In order to get this picture I used a 500mm lens with a 2X coupler.

Massachusetts - The Graves Lighthouse

The Graves Lighthouse is located at Boston Harbor, MA. The 113-foot tower, 30 feet in diameter at the base, was built in 1905 and fashioned of two-foot high blocks of Cape Ann (Rockport) granite. It rises from a carefully prepared ledge just four feet above the low tide mark. In 1976, after the Graves was automated, the station's original first-order Fresnel lens was removed and donated to the Smithsonian Institution. At the time of my visit in 2001, this was an active lighthouse. Due to its distance off main shore, I used a 500mm lens and 2X coupler to get this picture.

Massachusetts - Duxbury Pier Lighthouse

The Duxbury Pier Lighthouse, known to the locals at Plymouth, MA as the "Bug Light," was built in 1871. The white conical cast-iron tower stands atop a brown colored concrete-filled caisson and guards the north side of the main channel into Plymouth Harbor. The lantern room was originally equipped with a fourth order Fresnel lens. The tower is unusually shaped compared to most other caisson-style structures.  They have straight-sides, or cylindrical foundations, while this one slopes.

In 1964 the Coast Guard automated the light, and then over the next 20 years the station saw little upkeep and fell into disrepair. It was further defaced and damaged by vandals. Residents learned in the 1980's that the government was ready to remove the upper portion of the 47-foot tower and install a fiberglass spire and solar-powered optic, similar to the one at Deer Island in Boston Harbor. Local Bug Light Preservationist soon raised $20,000 to refurbish and repaint the existing structure, while the Coast Guard carried out restoration of the foundations pier. US Coast Guard workers completed further maintenance in 1996. Great efforts and expense were expended over the years to keep this Bug Light maintained and operational. This was an active lighthouse at the time of my visit here in 2001. I took this picture from shore using a 500mm lens.

Massachusetts - Point Gammon Lighthouse

The Point Gammon Lighthouse is located on Great Island, West Yarmouth, MA. In 1816 a conical stone lighthouse and keeper's dwelling was built on the eastern side of Hyannis Harbor. In 1837 six feet of brick work was added to the top of the tower to elevate the light and provide better ventilation. The cylindrical superstructure, later shingled, gave the lighthouse a unique appearance among Massachusetts beacons.

With the establishment of the Bishop and Clerks Lighthouse, 2 1/2 miles south of Point Gammon, it eliminated the need for the harbor light. Point Gammon was discontinued in 1858. In 1872 the government sold the deserted station, and it has been privately owned ever since. During the 1970's, the tower was used as a residence. At the time of my visit in 2001 it was vacant. Great Island is private and has no public access. I was able to capture this picture from the mainland using a 500mm lens with 2X doubler and tripod.

Massachusetts - Three Sisters Lighthouse

The Three Sisters Lighthouse (of Nauset) is located at Eastham, MA. They were relocated above Nauset Beach Light. The "triple lights" were unique in lighthouse configuration when erected on the sand hills of Nauset Beach in 1839. Three 15-foot brick towers were built at intervals of 150-foot to warn approaching vessels of the offshore bar paralleling the sandy shore. Because of their appearance from the sea, they quickly became known to mariners as the "three sisters." By 1892 the tiny towers perched dangerously near the edge of the eroding cliff they overlooked. They were replaced with a trio of shingled lights, each 22-feet tall and placed 30-feet further inland for their greater safety. Wood was used for the newer structures so they could be moved more easily, in case the nearby bank continued to fall away. The abandoned brick towers eventually fell over the cliff.

The north and south beacons of the three replacement towers were discontinued in 1911 after the government decided a single light would be more effective. The two surplus wooden towers were sold to private parties and used as summer cottages. The remaining "sister" was replaced in 1923 by one of the two, 48-foot cast-iron, lighthouses which had stood at Chatham since 1875. One account says that third sister was turned on its side and rolled to its new location, guided by a mule team.

In 1989, the National Park Service, which had purchased the dispersed wooden lighthouses, 25 years before, returned them to their original site and oversaw their restoration. At the time of my visit here in 2001, they were part of the Cape Cod National Seashore.

Massachusetts - Cleveland East Ledge Light

This lighthouse is located two miles off shore from Bourne, MA. It is the youngest Massachusetts beacon, and the light is a guide for vessels near the west end of the Cape Cod Canal.
The underwater shelf on which the lighthouse stands was named for President Grover Cleveland. He enjoyed fishing nearby.

The lower portion of the light consists of a two-story dwelling atop a red caisson deck. The 50 foot white cylindrical tower rises from the center of the second level and shows a flashing white light 74 feet above the water. A little more than a year after this lighthouse was established, the unusual structure nearly succumbed to a savage lashing. Giant waves stirred up by the Great Atlantic Hurricane of September 1944, battered a gaping hole in one of the exterior walls. The lighthouse crew managed to put up a temporary barricade and stop the seas' further inroads, thereby saving themselves and enabling the light to continue operating.

Due to the distance of this lighthouse offshore, I used a 500mm lens with 2X coupler and tripod to take this picture. At the time of my visit in 2001, this was an active lighthouse. I made reference to this lighthouse in my blog posting for Wings Neck Lighthouse, Oct 2012.

Massachusetts - Nobska Lighthouse

The Nobska Lighthouse is located at Falmouth, MA.  Originally spelled "Nobsque," the first lighthouse built here in 1829 was a three-room rubble-stone dwelling with an eight-sided lantern mounted on the roof. It perched on the rocky headland at the entrance to Wood's Hole Harbor. The crude structure was rebuilt in 1849 then entirely replaced in 1876 with the current cylindrical, cast-iron tower and lantern room, which stands 87 feet above the water. Initially the light was painted brown, but it has been white for much of the twentieth century. When the Bureau of Lighthouses came under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Coast Guard in 1939, the active civilian light keepers were allowed to finish their current service, until 1975, before being replaced by Coast Guard personnel.

Nobska Light was automated in 1985. Its light flashes every six seconds and is visible 17 miles out at sea. At the time of my visit here in 2001 this was an active light, and the two-story, wood-framed keeper's dwelling was the family residence of the Commander of Coast Guard Group Wood Hole. It oversees the agency's operations between Plymouth, MA and the Rhode Island, CT border. In 1988 this lighthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Massachusetts - Wings Neck Lighthouse

The Wings Neck Lighthouse is located at Pocasset Harbor, Bourne, MA. - This light started in 1849. A light keeper's house built of stone with a red shingled roof, had an octagonal frame tower and iron lantern mounted on the housetop. The lantern showed a fixed white light 44 feet above the high tide mark. In 1856, a Fresnel lens was installed to replace the original light and give the lantern's beacon greater intensity.

Then in 1878, tragedy struck when fire swept through the tower. The Lighthouse Board reported: "The lantern is on top of the dwelling; the roof has been crushed by the weight. A new tower is required, and the dwelling should be extensively repaired."  Despite the damage, the lantern continued to be used until 1890 when the house was demolished. In its place, workers constructed a white shingled hexagonal tower and wooden house. The two were connected with a covered walkway as shown above.

After the construction of the offshore Cleveland Ledge Light in 1941, the importance of the Wings Neck station was all but gone. It closed in 1945 and was sold two years later to the Flanagan family as a private residence. At the time of my visit here in 2001, the lighthouse and grounds were private property and not open to the public.

Massachusetts - Hyannis Lighthouse

The Hyannis Lighthouse is located at Hyannis, MA. It began and ended as a privately owned lighthouse. Early in the 19th century, Daniel Snow Hallett built and operated a primitive light as an aid to the many commercial craft using the well-protected Hyannis Harbor. The arrangement was little more than a lamp reflector shone from the loft of a small waterfront shanty. Hallett was later named the first light keeper of the government's own harbor light, which it authorized in 1848 and placed in service the following spring. The Locals quickly dubbed the structure "Bug Light," because the conical stone tower stood less than 20 feet high.

In 1885, the beacon became part of the Hyannis Range Light system. A second signal was installed atop a small frame shed. Both of these lights showed fixed red lights and formed a navigational range for vessels inside a breakwater. As the former business of Hyannis Harbor subsided into the 20th century, the need for Hyannis Light diminished, and the station was discontinued in 1929. The lantern was removed, and the tower capped. It was later declared surplus property, and the buildings and land were sold at auction for the unique price of $7,777.77. Prior to my visit here in 2001, the present owners had created an enlarged version of the old lantern room, which they use as a sitting room, atop the well-kept tower, 

Massachusetts - West Dennis (Bass River) Light

The Bass River Lighthouse is located at West Dennis, MA. The original-one-and-a-half story wooden building was built in 1855. The light station showed a fixed white light from 30 feet above the water.

In 1880, the Stage Harbor Light in Chatham, MA went into service. Then the government closed the Bass River Station, concluding it was no longer needed. The move caused a stream of complaints, and six months later Bass River Lighthouse was back in business.

After Cape Cod Canal opened in 1914, the station was permanently shut down and sold at auction. It changed hands three times before purchase by Mr. & Mrs Everett Stone. In 1938 they converted the property into a guest house that was soon known, appropriately enough, as the Lighthouse Inn. As of the time of my visit here in 2001, the third generation of Stones still operated the light as a private aid to navigation. The light shines from its lantern room atop the red roof building, and operates when the inn is open.

Massachusetts - Stage Harbor Lighthouse

The Stage Harbor Lighthouse is located at Harding Beach, Chatham, MA. The elbow of Cape Cod and the north side of Nantucket Sound is one of the foggier places on the East Coast. In the 19th century, its fishing fleet and scores of coasting vessels seeking shelter from contrary winds and bad weather routinely sought refuge in Stage Harbor. In 1880, the Lighthouse Board built a forty-eight foot cast-iron lighthouse and attached clapboard keeper's house at the east end of Harding Beach, alongside the narrow channel leading into the harbor.

In June 1933, the Stage Harbor Lighthouse was taken out of service after a new beacon was placed atop a white skeletal tower. It was located 308 feet south of the old lighthouse. The government eventually declared the station surplus property and sold it to the Hoyt family, who have maintained it in the years since. As of the time of my visit to this lighthouse in 2001 it continued as privately owned.

Massachusetts - Nauset Beach Lighthouse

The Nauset Beach Lighthouse is located at Eastham, MA. This light was the North Chatham Light built in 1873 until it was relocated to the beach at Nauset in 1926. The working Nauset Beach Light, with its upper half painted bright red, was automated in 1955. In the intervening years, the station was increasingly threatened by ever-eroding sand cliffs. Without the funds to relocate the station, the Coast Guard sought to decommission the light and leave the tower to its fate. However, concerned citizens quickly formed the Nauset Light Perservation Society, then raised the necessary capital to save the structure. They supervised its move out of harms way in November 1996. As of the time of my visit to this lighthouse in 2001, the National Park Service was caring for the lighthouse as a private aid to navigation. (My timing was perfect, enabling me to capture the white side of this light that shows both a red and white signal.)

Massachusetts - Chatham Lighthouse

This lighthouse is located at Chatham, MA.  Originally, twin octagonal lighthouses were built in 1808 and marked the west side of Chatham Harbor, once a busy open port. Within three decades, lingering moisture had significantly rotted both pyramidal wooden structures, and they were replaced in 1841 by a pair of 30-foot brick towers.

Concerned about the erosion of the nearby cliffs, the government located newer beacons more than a quarter of a mile from the sea. However, the substantial change was not sufficient. By 1870 the edge of the receding embankment was only 230 feet from the interior location; six years later it was within 100 feet. Therefore, in 1877 the Lighthouse Board recognized the station was in jeopardy and approved a second move. Two cast-iron towers were erected even further inland. They were situated 100 feet apart with a new keeper's house built between them. In December 1879, the old south tower toppled off the cliff. Little more than a year later, the old north tower and keeper's dwelling also toppled off.

Early in the 20th century, the government began phasing out twin-light stations in the interest of economy. In 1923, the north tower was moved to North Eastham to replace the sole surviving Three Sisters Lighthouse at Nauset Beach. Then, in 1969 the remaining tower was refitted with an aerobeacon. At the time of my visit to this lighthouse in 2001, this was an active lighthouse. The Fresnel lenses from both lights were exhibited at the Chatham Historical Society's Old Atwood House.

Massachusetts - Highland Lighthouse (Cape Cod)

The Highland Lighthouse is located at Truro, MA and is Cape Cod's oldest lighthouse. The first lighthouse was a forty-five foot wooden tower built in 1797. It was originally called Clay Pounds Light because it was built on the site of the Truro Clay Pound. In 1857 the Lighthouse Service established a brick tower and whale oil-burning lantern atop the 125 foot bluff known as the "High Land" at North Truro. It was an attempt to eliminate the frequent shipwrecks occurring along the busy shipping lane past the Outer Cape. Although officially called Cape Cod Light, most of its existence the local residents have always regarded the structure as Highland Light, and the latter is now the proper designation.

While the lofty dune beneath it made Highland Light a widely visible landmark, concern arose that the fixed white beacon would be confused with the similar one at Boston Light. To eliminate the possibility, the lantern was equipped with a revolving "screen," which created the country's first flashing signal.

Erosion of the nearby bluff presented a less imminent, but ultimately more forbidding dilemma. The ever encroaching sea gradually undercut the cliff below the light and threatened to tumble the station into the sea. By the 1990's, it was only about 100 feet from the edge of the steep bank. In June 1996 the 400-plus ton structure was moved 450 feet inland at a cost of well over one million dollars. It was moved onto Cape Cod National Seashore property. At the time of my visit in 2001, the Highland Lighthouse was an active light. It was owned and operated by the Park Service as a private aide to navigation.

Massachusetts - Race Point Lighthouse

The Race Point Lighthouse is located near Provincetown, MA. The treacherous Peaked Hill Bars parallel the outer shores of Cape Cod near Race Point, at the northernmost tip of Cape Cod. Their dreaded shallows have snagged countless ships over the years. The Lighthouse Service recognized this spot was a vital landmark for vessels bound to and from Boston from points south. Therefore, in 1816 it built a twenty foot rubblestone tower here together with a small house for the keeper and a covered walkway between the two. However, seafarers quickly complained that the beacon was too weak. So, in 1876 the stone tower was removed and a conical forty foot, cast iron tower was built in its place. The rotating beacon, used to help distinguish it from the fixed one at Boston Light, was changed to a steady glow, interrupted by a white flash every ninety seconds. The oil-kerosene-burning lamps were not converted to electricity until 1957. The light station was automated in 1978 and shows a solar-powered white flash from forty-one feet above sea level.

This lighthouse was still active at the time of my visit in 2001. The New England Lighthouse Foundation leased the light station grounds, which are now part of the Cap Cod National Seashore, including the remaining keeper's house.

Massachusetts - Wood End Lighthouse

The Wood End Lighthouse is located near Provincetown, MA. A flashing red beacon forty-five feet above the water, stands on the southern end of the hook of Cape Cod, near the entrance to Provincetown Harbor. The white pyramidal tower was constructed in 1873 and replaced a temporary signal building erected there the previous year. The Federal Revival-design structure is almost identical with the lighthouse at nearby Long Point, located one and three tenths miles to the northeast. Wood End, which is thirty-four feet from the base to the lantern, measures two feet taller.

After Wood End Lighthouse was automated in 1961, the keeper's house and all but one of the out-buildings were removed. The light is solar-powered and was still an active light at the time of my visit in 2001. (The Long Point Lighthouse, referred to above, is part of the previous week's post here in my blog.)

Massachusetts - Sandy Neck Lighthouse

The Sandy Neck Lighthouse is located at Barnstable, MA on the west side of the entrance to Barnstable Harbor. The original light built in 1827 was a brick dwelling with a square wooden light tower on the roof, and was named Barnstable Light. However, due to defective construction and materials, the government decided in 1857 it was necessary to tear down the existing building and start over. This time a thirty-four foot brick tower with a separate wood-frame keeper's house was built, and the station's name was changed to Sandy Neck. In 1887 it was reported that the tower was "badly cracked and being strengthened with two iron hoops and six (vertical) staves". These essential reinforcements were still in place at the time of my visit in 2001. By the 1930's, the wandering Sandy Neck dune had left the aging tower well away from the ocean. With marine traffic on the wane, officials decided to turn off the light, close the station, and relocate the beacon atop a skeletal tower further east. After 1950, the lantern room was removed and the property auctioned off. At the time of my visit the property was privately owned by Fred Lang - Yankee Network's WNAC Radio Station. It is believed, at that time, he was the only radio personality to own a lighthouse.

Massachusetts - Long Point Lighthouse

The Long Point Lighthouse is located near Provincetown, MA. This lonely lighthouse sits at the outermost curl of Cape Cod, and is the sole surviving structure at the location of a once thriving settlement. During the mid-nineteenth century, as many as 200 souls lived and worked along the sandy spit known as Long Point. However, the active community was abandoned during the Civil War, after the Confederate warship Alabama was spotted in the waters off the Cape. Provincetown authorities hastily commissioned a pair of earthworks at Long Point as protection for the harbor town. No enemy ever materialized and local residents dubbed the twin embankments: "Fort Useless" and "Fort Harmless".

In 1827, the first light at Long Point was placed in a six-sided, wood-frame tower on the roof of a three-room house which stood on piles. These were set eight feet in the sand and protected by 1,800 tons of granite blocks. Then in 1875, the light was relocated atop an adjacent thirty-eight foot square brick tower, although the old wooden dwelling remained standing for several more years. At the time of my visit in 2001, the above lighthouse was still an active light.

New Hampshire - Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse

The Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse is located at Fort Constitution State Park, New Castle, NH. It was once known as Great Island, New Castle and originally a 17th century fishing village. Today's settlement, with its narrow streets and old homes, retains much of its Colonial charm. In 1694, the British built Fort William and Mary on the northeast side of the island. The area's first navigational aid later went up at this site. The aid was little-more than a beacon on a pole.

The New Hampshire citizens replaced the primitive signal in 1784 with a small wooden tower, which they later ceded to the new federal government. The Lighthouse Service later replaced the structure with an eighty foot, wood-framed tower officially called Newcastle Point Light. But with establishment of the granite-blocked Whaleback Lighthouse at the harbor's entrance, it downgraded the New Castle Light Station to a "simple harbor beacon." Gradually deteriorating over time, the octagonal, shingled tower was replaced in 1877 by today's white, cast-iron lighthouse. It is only slightly more than half the size of its predecessor. This tower's light was automated in 1960 and flashes a green light from fifty-two feet above the fast-flowing harbor waters. I visited this lighthouse in 2001.

New Hampshire / Maine - Whaleback Lighthouse

The Whaleback Lighthouse is located on a reef on the NE side of the entrance to Portsmouth Harbor, NH. However, the lighthouse is claimed as a Kittery, ME lighthouse. 

The first lighthouse was built in 1831 and set atop a broad cylindrical pier. Unfortunately, the construction was inadequate to withstand the often severe weather conditions which occurred at that exposed spot. Gales frequently shook that tower, opening cracks which let in large quantities of water, and the wave action quickly undermined the base. Fearing the entire structure would soon collapse, inspectors closed it and eventually funds were secured to build the more substantial lighthouse shown above.

This conical tower, built in 1872 as the replacement, is fashioned of gray granite blocks, much like England's famed Eddystone Light. The base is bolted to the underlying ledge and is solid masonry to a height of twenty feet above low water. The upper blocks are tightly dovetailed together. The tower's flashing white light shines from a height of fifty-nine feet above high tide. I visited this lighthouse in 2001 and took this picture from New Castle, NH.

Maine - Pumpkin Island Lighthouse

The Pumpkin Island Lighthouse is located near Little Deer Isle, ME. This privately owned Pumpkin Island Lighthouse stands on the northwestern side of its namesake, which lies along the south side of the entrance to Eggemoggin Reach. The light station dates from 1854 when a twenty-two foot conical brick tower was erected and showed a fixed white light. The station also included an attached one-and-a-half-story wooden keeper's dwelling and a barn. The tower is attached to the dwelling by a work shop.

The station was closed in 1934 and sold by the government for $552 to George Harmon of Bar Harbor, ME. He also bought at least two other area lighthouses during the same period. Five years later, Harmon was offering Pumpkin Island property for $2000. The property has been sold several times over the years, but remains privately owned. At one time, the asking price for the well-maintained, two-acre island and building was $1.2 million. I can't imagine its value at the time of my visit in 2001.

Maine - Eagle Island Lighthouse

The Eagle Island Lighthouse is located near Deer Isle, ME. It was commissioned by President Van Buren in 1839 and established on the east end of the two-hundred-sixty acre island. A wood frame, two story keeper's house and fog bell tower were built at the same time as the rubble masonry lighthouse. In 1858 a fourth order Fresnel lens was installed to replace ten lamps providing the light.  An oil house was added in 1895. A bronze bell weighing 4,200 pounds was installed in the bell tower in 1932.

Over the years, improvements followed, although some were long overdue by the time they were accomplished. Light keeper's had no well for drinking water until 1947, nor indoor plumbing until 1949.

In 1959, the twenty-eight foot Eagle Island Lighthouse was automated. The Fresnel lens was removed and replaced by battery powered electric lamp. The station was then closed. All the buildings except the tower itself were put up for bid with the condition the buyer remove structures from the light station property. When no one came forward, the Coast Guard in 1963 decided to raze the buildings. Members of the Quinn family, long-time residents of the island with ties to previous keepers of the Eagle Island Light, appealed the decision but were unsuccessful in preventing the demolition.

In 1964 all buildings were razed, leaving the tower scarred and only traces of the old foundations remaining. While trying to remove the giant fog bell, the demolition crew lost control of it and the bell careened down the cliff into the ocean. Years later an unexpecting lobster man found the bell and towed it to Great Spruce Head Island. Subsequently, photographer Eliot Porter purchased the bell.

At the time of my visit in 2001, the lighthouse stood on private property and access to the island was carefully controlled. Only the stone lighthouse and pyramidal bell tower were left, and the automated white light of Eagle Island Lighthouse still beamed one-hundred-six feet above the bay water.

Maine - Fort Point Lighthouse

Fort Point Lighthouse is located in the Fort Point State Park, Stockton Springs, ME.  Fort Point, at the tip of Cape Jellison, forms the west side of upper Penobscot Bay, below the entrance to Penobscot River. The spot was the site of Fort Pownall, a 1759 British fortification to hinder French military movements to and from the bay. (Maine was, at that time, a part of Massachusetts).

Fort Point Lighthouse was established by order of President Andrew Jackson to aid vessels bound for Bangor, a leading lumber port. In 1837 the first wooden twenty-four foot tower was built, and nearby the keeper's quarters. Due to inferior workmanship, both buildings quickly went to pieces. In 1857 they were replaced with the current thirty-one foot brick tower, located two-hundred-fifty feet northeast of the original lighthouse. That same year, a two-story keeper's house was attached to the tower. In 1890 a bell tower was added to provide a fog signal, then in 1897 an oil house was built. At the time of my visit in 2001, all buildings still remained and the 1857 Fresnel lens was still in use. The keeper's quarters were the residence of the park ranger for Fort Point State Park, which incorporates the light station and adjacent fort grounds. The bell served until the 1960's when it was replaced by a fog horn. The bell now hangs outside its pyramidal tower as shown below.

This is one of the few remaining bell towers in ME, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The tower houses historic photos and is sometimes open to the public. During its use, the lighthouse keeper rigged a rope from the keeper's house to this tower so he didn't have to leave the house to ring the bell.

Maine - Dyce Head Lighthouse

The Dyce Head Lighthouse is located at Castine, ME. The original structure was a forty foot rubble-stone lighthouse on Dyce Head, a prominent height on the north side of the entrance to Castine Harbor. Excessive moisture soon wreaked havoc on the tower's interior walls, opening great cracks and seriously weakening the structure. It was entirely rebuilt in 1857-58, and lined inside with brick. The exterior was then encased in an octagonal wooden covering as a further measure against the chronic dampness, and then shingled. The protective sheath was removed after 1900.

The station survived until the 1930's when the government decided it should be replaced by a smaller white skeleton tower as an automated aid. Dyce Head Light was then deactivated in 1935 and became the property of the town of Castine. The keeper's house is now rented with the income used for maintenance of the grounds. The keeper's house was heavily damaged by fire in 1999, but restored at the time of my visit in 2001.

Maine - West Quoddy Head Lighthouse

West Quoddy Head Lighthouse is located at Lubec, ME. This candy-striped lighthouse stands on the eastern-most mainland point in the U.S. At certain times of the year, it is also the first spot in the country to see the morning sun. West Quoddy Head forms the western entrance to Cobscook Bay and the St. Croix River. In 1808 a rubble masonry tower was first constructed here. At forty-nine feet tall, it was as tall as any built in Maine prior to 1850. (Except the one at Portland Head, Me). The West Quoddy Head Lighthouse received one of the nation's first fog bells in 1820. However, by then the light had fallen into such a state of disrepair that it was rebuilt in 1853. Unfortunately, improper mortar was used in the job, (Not an uncommon occurrence in early lighthouse construction.) and the tower was soon in as bad a shape as ever. It was torn down then replaced in 1858 by this forty-nine foot high cast-iron structure and overlaid with brick. The West Quoddy Head Lighthouse was automated in 1988. A computerized mechanism now operates the third-order Fresnel lens flashing a white light. The light shines its beam from eighty-three feet above the water. This light station is now part of Quoddy Head State Park. At the time of my visit in 2001, the park was open to the public.

This lighthouse sits atop a high cliff and this location enables one to see the islands of Grand Manan and Campobello, NB, Canada, when the weather is clear. Grand Manan is sixteen miles long and had a population of three-thousand. The island used to belong to the United States but we swapped it for Moose Island on which Eastport Lighthouse is located.

Maine - Prospect Harbor Lighthouse

Prospect Harbor Lighthouse is located at Prospect Harbor Point at the entrance of Prospect Harbor, ME. It is the second of two lighthouses built there. The first was built in 1850 and made of rubble stone with a keeper's dwelling attached. Then in 1859, the Lighthouse Board shut down the light station after deciding the light was "not of sufficient service... to justify its maintenance." However, the Board reversed their decision in 1870 after persistent local opposition to the change.

In 1889 the tower and house were both termed "old and dilapidated" and were replaced the following year. The new thirty-eight foot tall lighthouse was placed into operation in 1891. Plans were first to build it of brick, but instead, it was a wood-framed shingled structure. The adjacent two-story dwelling, shown above, was also built of wood. The lantern room held a fifth-order Fresnel lens. In 1905 a stone oil house was added.

Prospect Harbor was one of several Maine light stations that were done away with in 1934 as an economic move. The aforementioned Fresnel lens was removed in 1951 and replaced by an automatic modern optic. At the time of my visit in 2001, the lighthouse was the grounds for a Navy Special Operations Command and the installation was off-limits to the public. I was able to get this picture using a 500mm lens, although it was very foggy that morning.

The U.S. Navy, at the time of my visit, occupied the station and also used the former keeper's house as a guest and rental spot for active and ex-military personnel and their families. During the winter of 1999-2000, Coast Guard crews replaced the lighthouse's lantern deck, re-shingled the tower's sides, and applied a fresh coat of paint to the entire structure.

Since 1989 the Navy has cooperated with local townspeople in presenting an annual light station "open house" during the Memorial Day weekend. (As of my visit in 2001) The public was invited to tour the station grounds, including the buildings, and were given rare opportunity to enter and climb a Maine lighthouse.

Maine - Marshall Point Lighthouse

The Marshall Point Lighthouse is located at Port Clyde, ME. The light stands at the southern tip of the Port Clyde peninsula and marks the east side of the entrance to Port Clyde Harbor. The station was established in 1832, following the construction of a nineteen foot rubble tower and an attached keeper's dwelling. However, in 1857 the original lighthouse, due to using the wrong kind of mortar to hold the field-stones in place, had to be taken down before it collapsed. Its replacement was this thirty-one feet, slightly taller, cylindrical structure located at the water's edge. The base of the tower was made of granite blocks, and the upper half made of brick. (This is more visible if you enlarge the picture by clicking on it). The tower was then connected to the shore via a wooden walkway supported by granite footings. At the time of my visit in 1997, the fixed white light shined from twenty-nine-and-a-half feet above the sea

The Marshall Point light station was automated in 1971, then nine years later the old keeper's quarters were boarded up and abandoned. However, in 1987 the St George Historical Society assumed responsibility for overseeing the building's restoration, and in 1990 the group opened the lower portion as the Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum.

Maine - Winter Harbor Lighthouse

This conical brick lighthouse was built in 1856 and stands on the southern end of the four-acre Mark Island, at the entrance to Winter Harbor, ME. During its seventy-seven years of operation, the tower's lantern showed a fixed white light from thirty-four feet above the sea. Operation of the light was discontinued in 1934 and the light station was closed.

Sometime later it was sold to a Bar Harbor resident. It later passed to other individuals who have maintained and used it as a seasonal home. One of these individuals was author Bernice Richmond, whose popular books Winter Harbor and Our Island Lighthouse relate many of the experiences she and her husband savored while living out the fantasy of actually owning a lighthouse.

The day I visited this lighthouse in 2001 the weather was overcast. I used a 500mm lens to get this picture because the lighthouse sets off the mainland on the island previously mentioned.

Maine - Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

The Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse is located in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, ME. The cylindrical brick lighthouse has been an aid to mariners since 1858. Its oscillating red light shines from fifty-six feet above the southeast side of the entrance to Bass Harbor. The lighthouse tower is attached to a one-and-a-half-story wood framed keeper's house by a covered walkway. A bell tower was added in 1876, but has since been removed. The keepers house was built in 1902 and remains, though blocked from quality view by the pine trees. The original fifth-order Fresnel lens was replaced in 1902 by a fourth-order Fresnel lens which has remained in the tower. In 1974 the Bass Harbor light station was unmanned due to automation.

At the time of my visit in 1997, the keeper's house was the residence for the Coast Guard Commander, Southwest Harbor, and was not open to the public. However, paths lead down to boulders adjacent to the light station, and a walkway took me to the front of the lighthouse to enable me to get this picture. The station grounds were open daily, at that time, from 9AM to sunset all year long.

Maine - Owls Head Lighthouse

This lighthouse is located in Owls Head State Park, Owls Head, ME. This picturesque thirty feet high lighthouse sits atop the knob-like Owls Head which overlooks the south side of the entrance to Rockland Harbor. The beacon was originally installed atop a fieldstone tower built in 1825, but deteriorated badly within a few years after construction. The Light keeper Penley Haines complained in 1842. Some of what he wrote follows: "... (it) is in a state of extreme dilapidation and decay from top to bottom. The walls are crumbling to pieces, the windows and stair rotted out, and the lantern is leaky."

The current brick tower, built in 1852, stands in superior condition to the old one. The fourth order Fresnel lens shows a fixed white light from one-hundred feet above the water of Penobscot Bay. At the time of my visit in 1997, the tower and light station were maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard Service, and the former keeper's house was occupied by personnel attached to the service's Rockland base.

Maine - Cape Neddick Lighthouse

The Cape Neddick Lighthouse is located at York, ME. Its beginning started in 1807 with repeated requests being ignored for several decades to build a lighthouse atop "the Nubble;" a few hundred feet offshore from the eastern end of Cape Neddick. Finally, in 1874 a forty-one foot cast-iron tower was authorized by President Rutherford B. Hayes, and the light station was placed in operation in 1879.

Nubble Light, as the lighthouse is more popularly called, is a cast-iron structure lined inside with brick. After completion the tower was painted red, but since 1902 it has been painted white. The distinctive red oil house was built in 1902, and the covered walkway connecting the keeper's house and tower were added in 1911. The light station originally had a fog horn bell and bell tower. This structure was razed in 1961. An 1891 fourth-order lens was still in use at the time of my visit, although it was not the original lens installed. A bucket suspended on a line across the channel was used to transport supplies to the station. The conical tower measures thirty-nine feet from the ground level to the center of the lantern, which shows a red light eighty-eight feet above the ocean. The last keeper left here in 1987 when the light was automated.

At the time of my visit in 1997, the station was maintained by the town of York and had received more than three-hundred offers from people desiring to be live-in caretakers. Some restoration work had been done with a 1989 grant from the Maine Historic Preservation Committee.

This lighthouse and grounds are among the most appealing and photographed in the world, with an estimated 250,000 visitors annually. In 1977 NASA sent Voyager II into space with several items aboard that were designed to teach extraterrestrial civilizations about our planet. A picture of "Nubble Light" was among the images included.

Maine - Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse

This lighthouse is located at Rockland, ME and sits at the end of a 4,300 foot long granite barrier. The barrier lays across the north side of the entrance to Rockland Harbor. Building started at the end of the nineteenth century and lasted over a twenty-year period. It sheltered vessels and wharves against the open ocean. Then, in 1895 a brick fog signal building was built atop a granite foundation at the outer end of the uncompleted sea wall, at the time. Seven years later, a twenty-five foot high square brick tower and attached two-story gambrel-roofed keepers house were added. The lighthouse projects from the northwest corner of the fog signal house. It was equipped with a fourth order Fresnel lens which provided navigational assistance until 1965. It was removed and replaced by an automated light.

Years later the City of Rockland acquired the lighthouse and formed The Friends of Rockland Breakwater Light. They raise funds to preserve and maintain the historic structure. I visited this lighthouse in 1997, and to get to this compact light station and see it up close, one had to walk the length of the forty-three-foot-wide breakwater. It contains over 750,000 tons of cut granite boulders. If you visit, pick up your feet or you'll be tripping on the jagged edges of granite.

Maine - Portland Head Lighthouse

The Portland Head Lighthouse is located at Fort Williams State Park, Cape Elizabeth, ME. Construction of Maine's oldest lighthouse began in 1787, but was abandoned before much could be accomplished due to lack of funds. In 1789 the new nation's first Congress appropriated $1,500 to complete the project. In November 1790 it was concluded, and President George Washington appointed Captain Joseph Greenleaf as the first keeper.

The fieldstone tower originally stood seventy-two feet high overall, but was shortened by more than one-third in 1813. It was restored in 1865 following public outcry over the loss of forty-two lives in the unfortunate shipwreck of the transatlantic steamer Bohemiam along the Cape Elizabeth shore. Local residents loudly protested a second lowering of the tower in 1883. They succeeded in having the cropped amount built back, and this time utilizing brick. The overall tower structure now rises eighty-feet above the rocky headland, and beams its white light from one-hundred-one feet above sea level.

The morning of my visit to this lighthouse in 1997, the fog was so thick the lighthouse was barely visible upon my arrival in the parking lot. After waiting for several minutes the fog finally moved and enabled me to cautiously walk along the rocky shore to get this picture. Although the top of the tower remained in the fog, I was able to take the picture at the moment the white light flashed through the fog. This can be seen better if you click on the picture.

Maine - Goat Island Lighthouse

The Goat Island Lighthouse is located at Cape Porpoise, ME. Originally it was called Cape Porpoise Harbor Lighthouse for the place of shelter it oversees. The cylindrical lighthouse stands at the South end of Goat Island, on the East side of the entrance to Cape Porpoise Harbor. The original tower was built of split stone in 1835 and stood twenty feet high. It was replaced in 1859 by the present one made of brick, painted white, and slightly larger.

Goat Island was the last Maine light station to have an active Coast Guard keeper. Former Boatswain's Mate "Brad Culp" gave up the post in the summer of 1990. During his tour of duty, Culp received occasional visits by U. S. president George Bush, at the time, who enjoyed vacation retreats to his family home at nearby Walker's Point. Secret Service agents attached to the president used the former keeper's house as a security post, coming and going via helicopter.

In 1992, the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust leased the light station and maintain it for educational purposes, at the time of my visit in 1997. Fog made it challenging to take this photo.

New York - Dunkirk (Point Gratiot) Lighthouse

The Dunkirk (Point Gratiot) Lighthouse is located off the harbor of Dunkirk, NY, Lake Erie. It is the second lighthouse to be here. The first one was built in 1827 a short distance from here. This tower and dwelling pictured above were built in 1857 to replace the first one. The dwelling is made of red brick and the sixty-one foot high tower is made of limestone. The square tower contains a spiral cast-iron staircase with fifty-five steps to the lantern room. At the time of my visit in 2001 the tower was open to the public.