Location | Cape Cod |
---|---|
Coordinates | 42°3′44.4″N70°14′34.9″W / 42.062333°N 70.243028°W |
Tower | |
Constructed | 1816 |
Foundation | Natural/emplaced |
Construction | Iron plate with brick interior |
Automated | 1972 |
Height | 45 feet (14 m) |
Shape | Conical |
Markings | White with black lantern |
Heritage | National Register of Historic Places listed place |
Light | |
First lit | 1876 (current structure) |
Focal height | 41 feet (12 m) above mean sea level |
Lens | Fourth-order Fresnel lens (original), VRB-25 (current) |
Range | 16 nautical miles (30 km; 18 mi) |
Characteristic | Fl W 10s |
Race Point Light Station | |
Location | Race Point Beach, Provincetown, Massachusetts |
Coordinates | 42°3′44.4″N70°14′41″W / 42.062333°N 70.24472°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1876 |
Architectural style | Italianate |
MPS | Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR |
NRHP reference No. | 87001482 [1] |
Added to NRHP | June 15, 1987 |
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. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Race Point Light was first established in 1816, the third light on Cape Cod (after Highland Light (1797) and Chatham Light (1808). The original light was a 25 feet (7.6 m) rubblestone tower that featured one of the earliest rotating beacons, which distinguished it from others on Cape Cod. In 1858 the light got a fourth order Fresnel lens and, in 1874, a second keeper's quarters.
In 1876, after significant deterioration of the original tower, it was replaced with a 45-foot tall cast iron tower lined with brick. The Fresnel lens was installed into the new tower. The original keeper's stone house was removed and replaced with one made of wood. Race Point Light was electrified in 1957. The larger keeper's house was removed in 1960 and the other was updated. [5] The light was automated in 1972. [2]
In 1995 the group updated the keeper's house and began offering rooms for overnight stays in 1998. A solar electrical system was installed in October 2003, and a wind turbine back-up generator was added in 2007. The light now uses a solar-powered VRB-25 optic with 400,000 candlepower, operated by the Coast Guard. [2] Operation of the site is by the American Lighthouse Foundation. Tours are available on the first and third Saturdays from June until October. [3] Both the Keeper's House and the Whistle House are available for overnight rental. [7]
Race Point Light was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Race Point Light Station on June 15, 1987, reference number 87001482. [1]
The following keepers maintained the light over the years, some for a surprisingly short time. Several had been assistant keepers for years prior to their promotion to head keeper. [2]
Portland Head Light is a historic lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The light station sits on a head of land 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 keepers' house is a maritime museum within Fort Williams Park.
Point Iroquois Light is a lighthouse on a Chippewa County bluff in the U.S. state of Michigan. Point Iroquois and its light mark the division line between Whitefish Bay and the western end of the St. Marys River, the connection between Lake Superior and other Great Lakes.
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.
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Goat Island Light is a lighthouse located off Cape Porpoise near Kennebunkport in southern Maine. Goat Island Light was established in 1835 to guard the entrance to Cape Porpoise Harbor. The original station was upgraded in 1859 to the current brick tower with a fifth order Fresnel lens. Keeper's quarters were added to the island in 1860. The light station was automated by the United States Coast Guard in 1990 and is currently active. The keepers dwellings and tower are leased to the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust. Goat Island Light can be seen from shore in Cape Porpoise Harbor just off State Route 9 north of Kennebunkport or is viewable by boat. The island is currently closed to the public except by special arrangement.
Nauset Light, officially Nauset Beach Light, is a restored lighthouse on the Cape Cod National Seashore near Eastham, Massachusetts, erected in 1923 using the 1877 tower that was moved here from the Chatham Light. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The tower is a cast-iron plate shell lined with brick and stands 48 feet (15 m) high. The adjacent oil house is made of brick and has also been restored. Fully automated, the beacon is a private aid to navigation. Tours of the tower and oil house are available in summer from the Nauset Light Preservation Society which operates, maintains and interprets the site. The tower is located adjacent to Nauset Light Beach.
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.
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.
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".
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