Great Point Light

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Great Point Light

Great Point Lighthouse
Location: Great Point, the northerly extremity of Nantucket, Massachusetts Island, southerly side of the easterly end of Nantucket Sound.
Coordinates
WGS-84 (GPS)
41°23′25″N, 70°02′54″W
Year first constructed: 1769
Year first lit: 1986 (current tower replaced destroyed 1818 tower in 1986)
Automated: circa 1955
Deactivated: 1984, rebuilt 1986
Foundation: Concrete
Construction: Stone, Concrete and Plastic
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 was 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.

[edit] National Register listing

  • Nantucket Light
  • (added 1982 - Structure - #82005272)
  • Also known as Great Point Light;
  • Sandy Point, Nantucket Island, Nantucket


[edit] See also

Great Point Light History