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.