Long Point Light

Last updated
Long Point Light
LPLS.png
Long Point Light in 2010
Long Point Light
Location Long Point, Provincetown, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°01′59″N70°10′07″W / 42.03313°N 70.16865°W / 42.03313; -70.16865
Tower
Constructed1827
FoundationNatural, emplaced
ConstructionBrick
Automated1952
Height38 feet (12 m)
ShapeSquare tower
MarkingsWhite with black lantern
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Fog signal HORN: one 2-sec blast every 15 secs [note 1]
Previous (1875): 1,200 lb (540 kg) fog bell
Light
First lit1875 (re-built light)
Focal height35.5 feet (10.8 m) above mean sea level
LensOil Lamp (1826);
Sixth-order fresnel (1856);
Fifth-order fresnel (1875;
Solar-powered 300 mm lantern (1982)
Range8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi)
Characteristic Oc G 4s (Green, occulting every 4 seconds)
Long Point Light Station
1909 long pt postcard.jpg
1909 postcard Long Point Light
MPS Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR
NRHP reference No. 87002039 [2]
Added to NRHPSeptember 28, 1987

Long Point Light Station is a historic lighthouse at the northeast tip of Long Point in Provincetown, Massachusetts. [3] 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". [3] 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 (15 km; 9.2 mi). 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 (and answer calls from) its nearly-identical closest neighbor, the Wood End Light. [note 1]

Contents

History

By an act of Congress on May 18, 1826, the United States Government earmarked $2,500 to acquire 4 acres (0.016 km2) at the extreme tip of Long Point, and to establish a lighthouse to guide mariners into the busy fishing port of Provincetown Harbor. [4] In comparing the relative share of the gross domestic product (GDP), or "nominal GDP", [5] that's the equivalent of today's Congress allocating $48 million in 2013 dollars. [6]

The original "Cape Cod style" light and keeper's house, c. 1830 Long Point Light--Original built 1827.jpg
The original "Cape Cod style" light and keeper's house, c. 1830

Completed in 1827, the original Long Point Light was not a tower structure, but rather consisted of an octagonal lantern centered on the peak of the roof of the wooden keeper's house. Access to the lantern was by a spiral stair from the top floor of the house. That architectural style, common to several of Cape Cod's early 19th century lighthouses, came to be known as the "Cape Cod style" – today, however, "classic" examples of that style can only be found along the Pacific Coast. [7]

The lantern was lit by a sixth-order Fresnel lens in 1856. By 1873, a lighthouse inspector's report noted substantial erosion, exposed wooden pilings, and poor overall condition of the light station, expressing concern that a strong storm could carry it away. Shortly thereafter, the Lighthouse Board decided to replace the entire structure. The present-day 38-foot (12 m) tall, square brick lighthouse and a one-and-one-half-story keeper's dwelling to its south were completed in 1875. The lighthouse included a larger, fifth-order Fresnel lens, and a 1,200-pound (540 kg) fog bell was installed to the north of the tower. In 1904, the station received an oil house for properly storing flammable materials used for illumination. [8] In 1927, the intensity of the light was reduced to 29,000 candlepower. [9]

Long Point Light underwent automation in 1952, and a modern optic replaced the Fresnel lens. In 1982, Long Point Light became the second lighthouse in Massachusetts to be equipped with solar panels to power the light and fog signal equipment. The abandoned keeper's dwelling and fog signal building were demolished around the same time. [8]

The Long Point Light Station was added to the National Historic Register in 1987. The light and its 1904 oil house are the only structures left on Long Point, which is now part of the Cape Cod National Seashore.

The village of Long Point

From its inception in 1827 until the late 1850s, the lighthouse shared the peninsula with a thriving village of Long Point. By 1830, the lighthouse became the site of Long Point's first school, starting with only three children. [10] The village grew to include the homes of 38 fishing families, a schoolhouse with up to 60 children, a post office, bakery, boat landings, breakwaters, and several saltworks which utilized windmills to pump seawater. [11]

For various reasons, the settlement was ultimately disbanded. Most of the families took their houses with them when they left — the houses were placed on rafts and floated across the harbor to Provincetown's West End. Several of those historic "floater" homes are still standing, and can be identified by looking for the distinctive blue and white plaques. [11]

The Long Point Battery

View from the East (2009). The mound is what remains of the Long Point Battery. Long Point Light and Outer Battery.jpg
View from the East (2009). The mound is what remains of the Long Point Battery.

Around the middle of the American Civil War, in 1863, the Union Army constructed fortifications called the Long Point Battery. It consisted of two earthwork artillery batteries, with a total of nine 32-pound (15 kg) guns between them, plus a barracks to house a company of 98 soldiers, an officer's quarters, and stables. [12]

The base was operational until 1872, but never saw any combat action [12] – as a result, local residents took to calling the batteries "Fort Useless" and "Fort Ridiculous". [4] [13]

Present day

Currently the U.S. Coast Guard owns and controls Provincetown's three lighthouses (Long Point Light, Wood End Light, and Race Point Light). It is leased to [14] and maintained by the Cape Cod Chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation. The grounds are open to the public, and the lighthouse tower is closed.

In December 2009, preservationists proposed to rebuild the keeper's house as a bed and breakfast similar to the operation at Race Point. The Coast Guard's lease is due to expire in 2015, and local officials speculate that the property could be turned over to the National Park Service, which maintains and operates the National Seashore. [15]

The secluded beach by the lighthouse can be reached by renting a small boat at Land's End or using the Long Point Beach Ferry, a 20-minute shuttle from MacMillian Pier or from the Boatyard dock in the West End. It is also possible to hike out, along the Provincetown Causeway and then along the beach, a three-mile distance each way. [16]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Fog signal is radio activated, during times of reduced visibility, turn marine VHF-FM radio to channel 83A/157.175Mhz. Key microphone 5 times consecutively, to activate fog signal for 45 minutes. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provincetown Harbor</span> Harbor in Provincetown, Massachusetts, USA

Provincetown Harbor is a large natural harbor located in the town of Provincetown, Massachusetts. The harbor is mostly 30 to 90 feet deep and stretches roughly 1 mile (1.6 km) from northwest to southeast and 2 miles (3.2 km) from northeast to southwest – one large, deep basin with no dredged channel necessary for boats to enter and exit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portland Head Light</span> Historic lighthouse in the United States

Portland Head Light is a historic lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The light station sits on a headland at the entrance of the primary shipping channel into Portland Harbor, which is within Casco Bay in the Gulf of Maine. Completed in 1791, it is the oldest lighthouse in Maine. The light station is automated, and the tower, beacon, and foghorn are maintained by the United States Coast Guard, while the former lighthouse keeper's house is a maritime museum within Fort Williams Park.

<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">Nobska Light</span> Lighthouse near Woods Hole, Massachusetts, US

Nobska Light, originally called Nobsque Light, also known as Nobska Point Light is a lighthouse located near the division between Buzzards Bay, Nantucket Sound, and Vineyard Sound in the settlement of Woods Hole, Massachusetts on the southwestern tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It overlooks Martha's Vineyard and Nonamesset Island. The light station was established in 1828, with the tower protruding above the keeper's house, and was replaced in 1876 by the current 42 foot tall iron tower. The light station was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Nobska Point Light Station in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montauk Point Light</span> Lighthouse in New York, United States

The Montauk Point Light, or Montauk Point Lighthouse, is a lighthouse located adjacent to Montauk Point State Park at the easternmost point of Long Island in Montauk, New York. The lighthouse was the first to be built within the state of New York, and was the first public works project of the new United States. It is the fourth oldest active lighthouse in the United States. Montauk Point Light is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2012, it was designated as a National Historic Landmark for its significance to New York and international shipping in the early Federal period.

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

Slip Point Lighthouse was a lighthouse on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, sitting on the point of land that marks the eastern side of Clallam Bay in Clallam County, Washington. The original light was replaced by a freestanding tower in 1951, which was discontinued around 2000 and replaced with a buoy light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcatraz Island Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse in the San Francisco Bay, California

Alcatraz Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse—the first one built on the U.S. West Coast—located on Alcatraz Island in California's San Francisco Bay. It is located at the southern end of the island near the entrance to the prison. The first light house on the island was completed in 1854, and served the bay during its time as a Citadel and military prison. It was replaced by a taller concrete tower built in 1909 to the south of the original one which was demolished after it was damaged due to earthquake in 1906. The automation of the lighthouse with a modern beacon took place in 1963, the year Alcatraz closed as the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. It is the oldest light station on the island with a modern beacon and is part of the museum on the island. Although when viewed from afar it easily looks the tallest structure on Alcatraz, it is actually shorter than the Alcatraz Water Tower, but as it lies on higher ground it looks much taller.

<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">Lynde Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Connecticut, United States

The Lynde Point Light or Lynde Point Lighthouse, also known as Saybrook Inner Lighthouse, is a lighthouse in Connecticut, United States, on the west side of the mouth of the Connecticut River on the Long Island Sound, Old Saybrook, Connecticut. The first light was a 35 feet (11 m) wooden tower constructed by Abisha Woodward for $2,200 and it was completed in 1803. A new lighthouse was eventually needed and a total of $7,500 was appropriated on July 7, 1838. Jonathan Scranton, Volney Pierce, and John Wilcox were contracted to build the new 65-foot (20 m) octagonal brownstone tower. It was constructed in 1838 and lit in 1839. The lighthouse was renovated in 1867 and had its keeper's house from 1833 replaced in 1858 with a Gothic Revival gambrel-roofed wood-frame house. In 1966, the house was torn down and replaced by a duplex house. The original ten lamps were replaced in 1852 with a fourth-order Fresnel lens, and with a fifth-order Fresnel lens in 1890. Lynde Point Lighthouse used whale oil until 1879 when it switched to kerosene. It was electrified in 1955 and fully automated by the United States Coast Guard in 1978. In 1990, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places and is significant for its "superior stone work in the tapering brownstone walls".

<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">Highland Light</span> Lighthouse

The Highland Light is an active lighthouse on the Cape Cod National Seashore in North Truro, Massachusetts. The current tower was erected in 1857, replacing two earlier towers that had been built in 1797 and 1831. It is the oldest and tallest lighthouse on Cape Cod.

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

Edgartown Harbor Light is a lighthouse located in Edgartown, Massachusetts, United States, where it marks the entrance to Edgartown Harbor and Katama Bay. It is one of five lighthouses on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The first lighthouse, a two-story wooden structure that also served as the keeper's house, was constructed in 1828. It was demolished, and replaced by the current cast-iron tower, in 1939. Originally located on an artificial island 1/4 miles from shore, the lighthouse is now surrounded by a beach formed, since 1939, by sand accumulating around the stone causeway connecting it to the mainland.

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

Wood End Light Lookout Station is a historic lighthouse, located at the southwest end of Long Point in Provincetown, Massachusetts. It is located at Wood End, near the southernmost extent of the Provincetown Spit, and acts as a navigational aid to vessels on their approach to Provincetown Harbor. The Long Point Light Station, further down the peninsula at the tip of Long Point is an identical design and completed in 1875, three years after Wood End Light.

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

Annisquam Harbor Light Station is a historic lighthouse located 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 surrounding the Gloucester peninsula, along with Eastern Point Light, Ten Pound Island Light, and Thacher Island Light.

<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">The Cuckolds Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

The Cuckolds Light, known as the Cuckolds Island Fog Signal and Light Station or just Cuckolds Light Station, is a lighthouse located on the eastern pair of islets known as the "Cuckolds" in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The islets are southeast and in sight of Cape Island, that is just off the southern tip of Cape Newagen on Southport Island, south of Booth Bay, that leads to Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

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

Billingsgate Island Light was located on what is still called Billingsgate Island though it is underwater at high tide, at the entrance to the harbor in Wellfleet, Massachusetts.

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

Rawley Point Light is a lighthouse located in Point Beach State Forest, near Two Rivers, Wisconsin. At 111 feet (34 m) tall, it is the tallest lighthouse on the Wisconsin Shore and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Point (Cape Cod)</span> Extreme tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts and former human settlement

Long Point is a peninsula located in Provincetown, Massachusetts, United States, at the extreme tip of Cape Cod, as it curls back in on itself to create Provincetown Harbor. The Long Point Light was built on this point in 1827. The lighthouse once shared this peninsula with a settlement of fishermen that came to be known as Long Point, Massachusetts. This Provincetown village grew and thrived from 1818 until the late 1850s. When the settlers decided to leave Long Point, they took most of their houses with them – about 30 structures in all – by floating them across the harbor.

References

  1. Light List – Vol. I – Atlantic Coast (PDF). U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center. 2019. p. 119. COMDTPUB P16502.1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-06-03. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. 1 2 Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2012. p. 114.
  4. 1 2 "Historical Timeline of Provincetown, Massachusetts". Town of Provincetown. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  5. Williamson, Samuel H. "Nominal GDP". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 8 November 2014. Nominal GDP: GDP expressed in current market prices, which is GDP not corrected for inflation. This may also be called 'money GDP', 'current-price GDP' or 'GDP at current prices'. Nominal GDP over time incorporates both real-output change and price change (inflation).
  6. Williamson, Samuel H. (April 2014). "Seven Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1774 to present". MeasuringWorth. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  7. "Long Point, MA". LighthouseFriends.com. Retrieved 15 February 2014. As there were similar lighthouses of this style built on the cape during the early 19th century, they came to be known as the 'Cape Cod style.' Unfortunately, no lighthouse of this design remains on the cape today.
  8. 1 2 "Long Point Light". Maritime History of Massachusetts, a National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary. National Park Service . Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  9. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
  10. Jennings, Herman A. (1890). Provincetown or Odds and Ends From the Tip End. Peaked Hill Press. p. 78.
  11. 1 2 Gehrman, Elizabeth (5 August 2007). "Solitude, sunscreen, and a long stretch of sand (almost) all to yourself". The Boston Globe . Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  12. 1 2 "Conclusions and Recommendations for the former Long Point Battery, Provincetown, MA; Project Number D01MA054901" (PDF). Defense Environmental Restoration Program for Formerly Used Defense Sites Ordnance and Explosive Waste. US Army Corps of Engineers. January 1997. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2004. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  13. Cunningham, Michael (2002). Land's end: a walk through Provincetown (1st ed.). New York: Crown journeys. p. 37. ISBN   9780609609071 . Retrieved 15 May 2012. ... as volunteers stood guard day after day and night after night over an uncontested stretch of salt water, the fortresses came to be known as Fort Useless and Fort Ridiculous.
  14. "Inventory of Historic Lighthouses-- Massachusetts-- Long Point Light". National Park Service. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
  15. Sowers, Pru (28 December 2009). "Provincetown lighthouse restoration project moves ahead". The Provincetown Banner. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  16. "Take in the Breathtaking Views at Long Point in Provincetown!". Archived from the original on 2017-04-03. Retrieved 2017-04-02.

AttributionPD-icon.svg This article incorporates public domain material from Maritime History of Massachusetts, a National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary -- Long Point Light. National Park Service . Retrieved 2012-03-03.