Hospital Point Range Front Light

Last updated
Hospital Point Range Front Light
Hospital Point Light Front MA.JPG
US Coast Guard photo
Hospital Point Range Front Light
Location Beverly, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°32′47.4″N70°51′21.4″W / 42.546500°N 70.855944°W / 42.546500; -70.855944
Tower
Constructed1871
FoundationGranite
ConstructionBrick
Automated1947
Height13.5 m (44 ft)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
ShapeSquare pyramidal tower with attached house
MarkingsWhite, black lantern
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Light
First lit1872
Focal height70 feet (21 m)
LensThird order Fresnel lens (current)
Characteristic F W
Hospital Point Light Station
MPS Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR
NRHP reference No. 87002031 [1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 28, 1987

Hospital Point Range Front Light is a historic lighthouse at the end of Bayview Avenue in Beverly, Massachusetts. It forms the front half of a range which guides vessels toward Salem Harbor. [2] [3] The tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Hospital Point Light Station on September 28, 1987.

Established in 1871, the beacon marks the deep water channel to Beverly, Salem and Marblehead [4] Two bronze plaques contain historical information about the site. One plaque honors Beverly men who manned a fort at the site during the Revolutionary War, and the second describes the lighthouse and a smallpox hospital that was previously located on the site. The lighthouse was first lit in 1872 and was automated in 1947. [5] The Fresnel lens was replaced in 1976, and an acrylic optic was installed in 1981. [6] At some point the original 3.5-order Fresnel Lens was returned to the lighthouse where it presently remains. [7]

The square pyramidal light tower is 45 feet (14 m) tall, made of white painted brick and is topped with a 10-sided lantern. [8] There are five sash windows in the tower, with the doorway facing the keeper's house. A small brick oil house stands nearby. The keeper's house is an example of Queen Anne style architecture, although its historic detailing are obscured by a major addition to the building in 1968. [6]

Hospital Point Light is owned and operated as a navigation aid by the United States Coast Guard. The light is paired with a second light installed in the steeple of Beverly's First Baptist Church in 1927. [9] Vessels are able to use the two lights to align themselves with the middle of the channel, avoiding the rocky shores.

Tours are offered to the public each August for Beverly Homecoming celebrations and include 40 winding stairs and a ladder to the top of the light. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Quoddy Head Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, United States

West Quoddy Head, in Quoddy Head State Park, Lubec, Maine, is the easternmost point of the contiguous United States. In 1808 a lighthouse was constructed at the site to guide ships through the Quoddy Narrows. The current tower, with distinctive red-and-white stripes, was constructed in 1858 and is an active aid to navigation. The 3rd order Fresnel lens is the only 3rd order and one of only eight Fresnel lenses still in use on the Maine Coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chatham Light</span> Lighthouse

Chatham Lighthouse, known as Twin Lights prior to 1923, is a lighthouse in Chatham, Massachusetts, near the "elbow" of Cape Cod. The original station, close to the shore, was built in 1808 with two wooden towers, which were both replaced in 1841. In 1877, two new towers, made of cast iron rings, replaced those. One of the towers was moved to the Eastham area, where it became known as Nauset Light in 1923.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Two Harbors Light</span> Lighthouse

The Two Harbors Light is the oldest operating lighthouse in the US state of Minnesota. Overlooking Lake Superior's Agate Bay, the lighthouse is located in Two Harbors, Minnesota. The construction of the lighthouse began in 1891 and was completed the following year, with the light being lit for the first time on April 14, 1892. The first Two Harbors keeper was Charles Lederle and there were normally three keepers assigned to make sure the light was lit every day. The Lighthouse was built to provide safe passage into the Agate Bay Harbor during the early 20th century, as Two Harbors was a major shipping point for the iron ore of the Mesabi Range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crooked River Light</span> Lighthouse in Florida, US

The Crooked River Light, also known as the Carrabelle Light, was built in 1895 to replace the Dog Island Light on Dog Island, which had been destroyed in 1875 by a hurricane. The location on the mainland allowed the light to serve as the rear range light for the channel to the west of Dog Island, used by ships in the lumber trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenosha Light Station</span> Lighthouse

Kenosha Light Station is a lighthouse and keeper's house on Simmons Island north of the channel into Kenosha's harbor in Kenosha County, Wisconsin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Scituate Light</span> Historic lighthouse Scituate, Massachusetts, United States

Old Scituate Light also known simply as Scituate Light is a historic lighthouse located on Cedar Point in Scituate, Massachusetts. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 as Scituate Light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battery Point Light</span> Lighthouse in California, United States

Battery Point Light is a lighthouse in Crescent City, California, United States. It is registered as a California Historical Landmark, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as "Crescent City Lighthouse".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Arena Light</span> Lighthouse in California, United States

Point Arena Light is a lighthouse in Mendocino County, California, United States, two miles (3 km) north of Point Arena, California. It is approximately 130 mi (210 km) north of San Francisco, in the Fort Point Group of lighthouses. The lighthouse features a small museum and gift shop. Guided tours of the light station as well as self-guided tours of the grounds are available daily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Montara Light</span> Lighthouse in California, United States

The Point Montara Light is a lighthouse in Montara, California, United States, on the southern approach to the San Francisco Bay, California approximately 25 miles south of San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concord Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Maryland, United States

Concord Point Light is a 36-foot (11 m) lighthouse in Havre de Grace, Maryland. It overlooks the point where Susquehanna River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, an area of increasing navigational traffic when it was constructed in 1827. It is the northernmost lighthouse and the second-oldest tower lighthouse still standing on the bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Race Point Light</span> Lighthouse

Race Point Light is a historic lighthouse on Cape Cod, in Provincetown, Massachusetts; it is on the National Register of Historic Places. The original tower, first illuminated in 1816, was replaced in 1876 with the current 45-foot tall iron-plated tower and a new keeper's dwelling. The American Lighthouse Foundation operates the property and rents out two buildings for overnight stays. The actual light is maintained by the Coast Guard. The site is reached by walking about 45 minutes over sand; with a National Park Service Oversand Permit, a four-wheel-drive vehicle can be used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkey Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Maryland, United States

The Turkey Point Light is a historic lighthouse at the head of the Chesapeake Bay. Although only a 35-foot (11 m) tower, the 100-foot (30 m) height of the bluffs on which it stands makes it the third highest light off the water in the bay. It is also known for the large number of women who served as lightkeeper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Point Light (Maine)</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

The Fort Point Light, or Fort Point Light Station, is located in Fort Point State Park, in Stockton Springs, Maine. A lighthouse at this point has served as an active aid to navigation since 1835; the present lighthouse dates to 1857, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Massachusetts, United States

Long Point Light Station is a historic lighthouse at the northeast tip of Long Point in Provincetown, Massachusetts. As a navigational aid, it marks the southwest edge of the entrance to Provincetown Harbor. The United States Coast Guard Light List describes it simply as a "white square tower". The light it casts is green, occulting every 4 seconds, and, at a focal height of 35.5 feet (10.8 m) above mean sea level, has a visible range of 8 nautical miles. When the weather affords low-visibility, one can hear the station's fog horn – sounding a single blast for two seconds, and repeating every 15 seconds – as it seems to call out for its nearly-identical closest neighbor, the Wood End Light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borden Flats Light</span> Lighthouse

Borden Flats Light is a historic lighthouse on the Taunton River in Fall River, Massachusetts, US. It is a tower-on-caisson type known as a sparkplug lighthouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annisquam Harbor Light</span> Lighthouse

Annisquam Harbor Light Station is a historic lighthouse on Wigwam Point in the Annisquam neighborhood of Gloucester, Massachusetts. It can be viewed from nearby Wingaersheek Beach, Gloucester. It lies on the Annisquam River and is one of the four oldest lighthouses to surround the Gloucester peninsula as well as; Eastern Point Light, Ten Pound Island Light, and Thacher Island Light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derby Wharf Light</span> Lighthouse

Derby Wharf Light Station is a historic lighthouse on Derby Wharf in Salem, Massachusetts that is within the Salem Maritime National Historic Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

Marshall Point Light Station is a lighthouse at the entrance of Port Clyde Harbor in Port Clyde, Maine. The light station was established in 1832.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Light is a lighthouse located off M-28 in Munising Township, Michigan. It is also known as the Bay Furnace Rear Range Light, Christmas Rear Range Light, or End of the Road Light. The corresponding front range light was replaced in 1968; the rear range light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It is no longer an active aid to navigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pigeon Point Lighthouse</span> Historic lighthouse in California, United States

Pigeon Point Light Station or Pigeon Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse built in 1871 to guide ships on the Pacific coast of California. It is the tallest lighthouse on the West Coast of the United States. It is still an active Coast Guard aid to navigation. Pigeon Point Light Station is located on the coastal highway, 5 miles (8 km) south of Pescadero, California, between Santa Cruz and San Francisco. The 115-foot (35 m), white masonry tower, resembles the typical New England structure.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-09-02. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
  3. United States Coast Guard (2009). Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. p. 82.
  4. Wright, John Hardy. Images of American: Beverly. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2000. p. 105
  5. United States Coast Guard. Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts. online.
  6. 1 2 "MACRIS inventory record for Hospital Point Range Front Light". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
  7. "Hospital Point Range Front Lighthouse". Lighthouse Friends. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  8. National Park Service. Maritime History of Massachusetts. online
  9. 1 2 Leighton, Paul. (2007, July 28.) Seeing the light: tours offer rare views from Hospital Point. Salem News.