Brant Point Light
Brant Point Light in 2009
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| Location | Brant Point, Nantucket, Massachusetts |
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| Coordinates | 41°17′23.711″N 70°5′25.025″W / 41.28991972°N 70.09028472°W |
| Year first constructed | 1746 |
| Year first lit | 1901 (current tower) |
| Automated | 1965 |
| Foundation | Stone piling |
| Construction | Wood |
| Tower shape | Conical, footbridge to shore |
| Markings / pattern | White with black lantern |
| Height | 26 feet (7.9 m) |
| Focal height | 26 ft |
| Original lens | 5th order Fresnel lens |
| Range | 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) |
| Characteristic | Occulting Red, 4s |
| Fog signal | Original: Bell Current: Horn: 1 every 10s |
| Admiralty number | J0414 |
| ARLHS number | USA-1095 |
| USCG number | 1-15205 |
The 1856 tower is still standing.
U.S.Coast Guard photo |
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| Location | Coast Guard Station, Nantucket |
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| Coordinates | 41°17′23″N 70°5′33″W / 41.28972°N 70.09250°W |
| Year first lit | 1856 (this tower) |
| Deactivated | 1900 (this tower) |
| Foundation | Concrete and granite |
| Construction | Brick |
| Tower shape | Cylindrical |
| Markings / pattern | Various |
| Original lens | 4th order Fresnel lens |
| ARLHS number |
USA-1094 |
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Brant Point Light Station
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| Area | 3.2 acres (1.3 ha) |
| MPS | Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR |
| NRHP Reference # | 87002029 |
| Added to NRHP | September 28, 1987 |
USA-1094
Brant Point Light is a lighthouse located on Nantucket Island. The station was established in 1746, automated in 1965, and is still in operation. The current tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 28, 1987; it has the distinction of being the tenth light on the point, in addition to several range lights. Four of the others burned or blew down, two were condemned, two were unsatisfactory, and the remaining one stands unused.
At a town meeting at Nantucket on January 24, 1746, the sea captains of the island spoke out for a lighthouse and the sum of 200 pounds was voted "in supposition that the owners of or others concerned in, shipping will maintain a light therein", but the town actually paid for its maintenance. The wood 1746 tower burned in 1758.
Town meeting authorized a new light, which was completed in 1759, which lasted until 1774. From the March 12, 1774, issue of The Massachusetts Gazette and the Boston PostBoy and Advertiser, "We hear from Nantucket that on Wednesday the 9th of March Instant (1774) at about 8 o’clock in the Morning, they had a most violent Gust of Wind that perhaps was ever known there, but it lasted only about a Minute. It seemed to come in a narrow Vein, and in its progress blew down. and totally destroyed the Light-House on that Island, besides several Shops, Barns, etc. Had the Gust continued fifteen Minutes it is thought it would not have left more than half the Buildings standing, in the Course that it passed. But we don’t hear of any Persons receiving much hurt, nor much Damage done, except the loss of the Light-House which in every respect is considerable."
Town meeting promptly agreed to rebuild the lighthouse for the third time "as High as the former one that blew down lately at the Town’s Expense." The town petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts (the Legislature, not a court) for permission to levy tonnage dues, and, beginning August 1, 1774, it was ordered that any vessel over 15 tons was subject to a charge of 6 shillings the first time each year it entered or left Nantucket Harbor. In 1783, the lighthouse burned.
The first three lighthouses had been built with more of eye to economy than quality, but the fourth had no quality at all. It was simply a wood lantern with glass windows hoisted between two spars. This lamp was very dim and was often compared by mariners to a lightning bug; hence it received the name "bug light" and was replaced in 1786 by a slightly more elaborate structure, a frame, fitted at the top for lamps. This was wrecked in a heavy storm in 1788.
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Wikipedia