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.