Lighthouses of Massachusetts

Massachusetts, with 192 miles of coastline, has dozens of lighthouses. Take a tour of some of The Bay State’s famed beacons in this gallery.

Lighthouses on Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Cape Cod, and the North Shore are among the most instantly recognizable images in all of New England.

A minor bit of controversy occurred in 1974 when the Coast Guard removed the fog signal at this light station. Local boaters and fishermen complained. The following year, a switch to activate the signal was installed at the local police station. Today, Annisquam Light is activated by a sensor. The lighthouse remains an active US Coast Guard aid to navigation.

Baker’s Island remains a popular summer destination for residents. The first two lights were established in 1798. By 2002, the lighthouse became solar-powered.<br>
<br>*Closed to the public

Bird Island served as an ideal locale to help guide ships passing through Marion’s Sippican Harbor. An urban legend recalls the “curse of Bird Island’’ stemming from the first keeper of the lighthouse murdering his wife in 1819.<br>
<br>*Closed to the public

Fall River had a booming textile industry by the mid-1800s, which resulted in an increase in maritime traffic. Today, the lighthouse remains an active Coast Guard aid to navigation. It can be seen from the Borden Light Marina.

Palmer’s Island Lighthouse, which has undergone many renovations over the years, is barely recognizable from the building that was erected in 1855. Today it is home to the Lighthouse Inn and restaurant.

Historian Edward Rowe Snow once dubbed Boston Light an “ideal American lighthouse’’ It is America’s oldest lighthouse and the last one to be automated. Additionally, Boston Light is the only lighthouse that still has an official keeper.

America’s second-oldest lighthouse, Nantucket’s Brant Point served an important role navigating ships through a heavily trafficked area that was central to the 18th century whaling industry.<br>
<br>*Grounds open to the public; tower not

Located in the New Bedford Channel, at the entrance of the New Bedford Harbor, the 53-foot tall lighthouse was designed by F. Hopkinson Smith, an artist and writer who also built the foundation for the Statute of Liberty. Butler Flats is currently the only US lighthouse that flies a lighted American flag 24 hours a day.<br>
<br>*Closed to the public

Because of its exposed location to the ocean, Cape Poge Light, on Chappaquiddick Island, is vulnerable to land erosion. The lighthouse has been moved four times between 1907 and 1987 to preserve the tower’s structure. Automated in 1934, the light was added to the National Registry of History Places in 1987.

Chatham Light was the second lighthouse to be built on Cape Cod. To distinguish it from Highland Light, it was originally constructed with twin towers. However, in 1923 the north tower was moved to Nauset as a replacement for one of its towers. Though the original lantern room was rebuilt in 1969, it is still on display at the Chatham Historical Society Museum.<br>
<br>*Not open to the public except on special dates and a prearranged schedule.

Clark’s Point is located in Buzzard’s Bay, on the southernmost tip of New Bedford, which was once a thriving industrial center for whaling. After years of neglect, the city restored and re-lit the lighthouse with a public ceremony in 2001.

Named after President Grover Cleveland, who frequented the area to fish during his summer vacations, Cleveland Ledge Lighthouse is located in Buzzards Bay, 8 miles southwest of the Cape Cod Canal. Built in the early 1940s, the lighthouse was among the last to be constructed in the United States and became automated in 1978.<br>
<br>*Closed to the public

This Boston station, first established in 1890, no longer exists. It was replaced by a fiberglass tower in 1982.

The lighthouse was built in 1871, deactivated in 1977, and became part of the Salem Maritime National Historical Site, maintained by the National Park Service, two years later. The “Friendship,’’ a replica of an 18th century China trade ship, is docked at Derby Wharf.<br>
<br>*Derby Wharf is open to public; lighthouse itself is not.

Built in 1871, locals have dubbed the Duxbury Pier Light “Bug Light’’ because of its stout, coffeepot-like shape. It was the first offshore cast-iron lighthouse in the United States and still remains active today.<br>
<br>*Closed to the public

Located in Oak Bluffs at the Vineyard Haven entrance, East Chop Light was first lit in 1877. The lighthouse station was most recently renovated in 2007 and still remains active today.

Beauport, a 40-room mansion that is now open as a museum, is one of the most famous locations at Eastern Point. Visitors who were entertained at Beauport include author Henry James, who wrote “Portrait of a Lady,’’ poet Amy Lowell, and former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.<br>
<br>*Not open to the public

Edgartown Light was built during Martha’s Vineyard’s booming whaling industry during the late 1700s and early 1800s. Though once an offshore lighthouse, sand has since filled the gap. Today, Edgartown Light sits on a beach. The lighthouse also made a brief appearance in Steven Spielberg’s classic 1975 movie, “Jaws.’’

*Closed to the public

Fort Pickering Light was erected in 1871. Winter Island is the site of the 18th century Fort Pickering, which served as a training ground for militia. Salem Willows Amusement Park was erected nearby, and still operates today.

The current 51-foot-tall brick tower stands atop the 130-foot multicolored clay cliffs at the western shore of Martha’s Vineyard and remains an active aide to navigation. Because of its importance to maritime travel, Gay Head Lighthouse was one of the first lighthouses in the nation to be equipped with an optic lens.

One of Massachusetts’ youngest lighthouses, Graves Light opened in 1905. It is located at the outermost island of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area and was featured in the 1948 Oscar-winning film, “Portrait of Jennie.’’<br>
<br>*Closed to the public

The passage between Nantucket and the mainland was one of the highest trafficked areas in the 1700s. Locals petitioned for the creation of a lighthouse between Great Point and Monomoy because it was a dangerous route for ships. In 1984, a storm destroyed the lighthouse. Two million dollars in federal money was set aside for a new Great Point Lighthouse, which debuted in 1986.

Plymouth was a major trading port in the colonial United States and Plymouth Light is the country’s oldest, free-standing, wooden lighthouse tower (1843). The lighthouse’s Fresnel lens is currently on display at the Hull Lifesaving Museum at the Point Allerton Lifesaving Station in Hull.

One of the first lighthouses built on the Cape (station established in 1797), Highland Light is currently maintained by the National Park Service and is considered part of the Cape Cod National Seashore.