Nauset Light
Nauset Light, oil house and lightkeeper's home
|
|
 |
|
| Location | Nauset Beach, Eastham, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°51′36.5″N 69°57′10.6″W / 41.860139°N 69.952944°WCoordinates: 41°51′36.5″N 69°57′10.6″W / 41.860139°N 69.952944°W |
| Year first constructed | 1838 |
| Year first lit | 1877 (current tower in Chatham) 1923 (current tower here) |
| Automated | 1955 |
| Deactivated | 1996-97 now a private aid |
| Foundation | Concrete |
| Construction | Cast iron with brick lining |
| Tower shape | Conical |
| Markings / pattern | Upper red, lower white with black lantern |
| Height | 48 feet (15 m) |
| Focal height | 120 feet (37 m) |
| Original lens | 4th order Fresnel lens |
| Current lens | Carlisle & Finch DB-224 |
| Range | White 24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi), Red 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) |
| Characteristic | Alt white and red 10s |
| Fog signal | none |
| Admiralty number | J0396 |
| ARLHS number | USA-529 |
| USCG number |
1-510.1 |
|
Nauset Beach Light
|
|
| Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1875 |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| MPS | Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR |
| NRHP Reference # | 87001484 |
| Added to NRHP | June 15, 1987 |
1-510.1
Nauset Light, officially Nauset Beach Light, is a restored lighthouse on the Cape Cod National Seashore near Eastham, Massachusetts, erected in 1923 using the 1877 tower that was moved here from the Chatham Light. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The tower is a cast iron plate shell lined with brick and stands 48 feet (15 m) high. The adjacent oil house (where fuel was stored in the early days) is made of brick and has also been restored. Fully automated, the beacon is a private aid to navigation. Tours of the tower and oil house are available in summer from the Nauset Light Preservation Society which operates, maintains and interprets the site.
The tower that eventually became Nauset Light was constructed in 1877 as one of two towers in Chatham. It was moved to Eastham in 1923 to replace the Three Sisters of Nauset, three small wood lighthouses that had been decommissioned. They have since been relocated to a small field about 1,000 feet (300 m) west of the Nauset Light. Nauset Light was originally all white, but in the 1940s, the top section of the tower was painted red, creating the iconic appearance.
The light was automated and the keeper's house was sold in 1955. The original fourth-order Fresnel lens was removed in 1981 and replaced with aerobeacons. The lens is on display in the Salt Pond Visitor Center of the Cape Cod National Seashore. In December 2008, the old-style bulbs in the aerobeacons were replaced with 400 watt metal halide bulbs.
Due to coastal erosion, by the early 1990s Nauset Light was less than 50 feet (15 m) from the edge of the 70-foot (21 m) cliff on which it stood. In 1993, the Coast Guard proposed decommissioning the light. Following a great public outcry, the non-profit Nauset Light Preservation Society was formed and funded, and in 1995, it leased the lighthouse from the Coast Guard. The Society arranged for both the tower and the brick oil house to be relocated, in November 1996, to a location 336 feet (102 m) west of its original position – which by then was only 37 feet (11 m) from the cliff's edge. The move was accomplished successfully by International Chimney Corporation, which had moved the larger Highland Light a similar distance earlier that year, with assistance from Expert Movers and a consultant, Pete Friesen.
...
Wikipedia