Auction Ending for Minot’s Ledge Light—the ‘I Love You Light’
Hey there, you big romantic. You got a little money to burn? Are you a fan of making grand gestures to impress your significant other? You’ve got just a few hours left to buy your crush something they wanted.
Minot’s Ledge Light — referred warmly by south shore locals as the “I Love You Light’’ for it’s 1-4-3 flash signature — is up for auction. The sale ends Wednesday at 3:46 p.m. local time, and the highest bid as of Tuesday night was $182,000. But hey, who can put a price on love?
The lighthouse out in the water now is the second structure at the site. The first was lost to a storm in 1851. The current signal tower, completed in 1860, is a haven for teens and daredevils looking for a scary 40-feet dive into the water. It’s also a hot spot for amateur shipwreck hunters.
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Minot’s Ledge is just the latest historic lighthouse up for sale in the area. Maine’s Boon Island Light Station sold for $78,000 in September. The lighthouse is the tallest in New England and sits on an island infamous for an English shipwreck in the late 1600s. Though they were a mere six miles from shore, the stranded, mutinous crew had no way to escape and resorted to cannibalism before they were finally rescued.
Closer to Boston, Graves Light set a record when it was sold at auction for $933,000. Graves is still an operational lighthouse, so the Coast Guard will continue to signal ships there, even though it was sold to a private buyer.
While most of the decommissioned lighthouses in the area are definite fixer-uppers, Minot’s Ledge also has its lovely nickname. Whether there’s room for both a prospective lighthouse keeper and spouse is another matter.
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