A Massachusetts Beauty - Nobska Point Lighthouse

The Nobska Point Lighthouse is located at Falmouth, MA. Originally the name was spelled "Nobsque." The first lighthouse, built near 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 Wood's Hole Harbor. That crude structure was rebuilt in 1849, and then in 1876 it was entirely replaced with the current cylindrical, 40-foot cast-iron tower lined with brick, and lantern room. It stands 87-feet above the water. Initially, the light was painted brown, but later changed to white and has been so for much of the twentieth century.

When the Bureau of Lighthouses came under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Coast Guard in 1939, those civilian keepers still active were allowed to finish their current tour of service, until 1975, before being replaced by Coast Guard personnel. Nobska Point Light was automated in 1985. Its light flashes every six seconds and is visible about 17-miles out at sea.

At the time of my visit here in 2001, the two-story wood frame keepers dwelling was used for the family residence of the Commander of Coast Guard Group Woods Hole, which oversees the agency's operations between Plymouth, MA and the Rhode Island, Connecticut borders.

This lighthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.