Great Point Light
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Great Point Lighthouse |
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| Location: | Great Point, the northerly extremity of Nantucket, Massachusetts Island, southerly side of the easterly end of Nantucket Sound. |
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| Coordinates WGS-84 (GPS) |
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| Foundation: | Concrete |
| Construction: | Stone, Concrete and Plastic |
| Year first lit: | 1986 (current tower replaced destroyed 1818 tower) |
| Year first constructed: | 1769 |
| Deactivated: | 1984, rebuilt 1986 |
| Automated: | circa 1955 |
| Tower shape: | Cylindrical |
| Markings/Pattern: | White tower with covered way and white framed dwelling, black lantern room, small white oil-house to southward of dwelling |
| Height: | 70 feet, 71 feet above sea level. |
| Original lens: | Third order Fresnel lens |
| Range: | white 14 nm, Red 12 nm |
| Characteristic: | Flashing white 5s with a red sector from 084° to 106°. Covers Cross Rip and Tuckernuck Shoals. per USCG lights list. |
Great Point Light also called Nantucket (Great Point) Light is a lighthouse located on the northernmost point of Nantucket Island. First built in 1784, the original wooden tower destroyed by fire in 1816. The following year a stone tower was erected which stood until toppled in a storm in March 1984. Rebuilt again in 1986, the stone tower was built to replicate the old one, and still remains in operation today. Modern additions include solar panels to recharge the light's batteries, and a sheet pile foundation and 5-foot thick concrete mat to help withstand erosion.
The lighthouse sits on a thin spit of beach where the currents of the Atlantic Ocean and Nantucket Sound meet.
