Gay Head Light

Gay Head Light
U.S. Coast Guard photo
Note the size of the Fresnel lens compared to the man standing outside the lantern
Location Aquinnah, Massachusetts
Coordinates
Year first constructed 1799
Year first lit 1856 (current structure)
Automated 1960
Construction Brick and sandstone
Tower shape Conical
Markings / pattern Red brick with black lantern
Focal height 170ft (52m)
Original lens First order Fresnel lens
Current lens DCB-224
Range White 24nm
Red 20nm
Characteristic Alt WR 15s
Fog signal none
USCG number 1-620[1][2]
Gay Head Light
Location: Lighthouse Rd., Aquinnah, Massachusetts
Area: 2 acres (1ha)
Built: 1856
Governing body: U.S. Coast Guard
MPS: Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR
NRHP Reference#: 87001464[3]
Added to NRHP: June 15, 1987

Gay Head Light is an historic lighthouse on Lighthouse Road in Aquinnah, Massachusetts.

The first light, a 47 foot (14m) octagonal tower, was built in 1799. The lantern was lowered 14 feet (4m) in the early 19th century to get the light under the fog and again by 3 feet (1m) during a major rebuilding in 1838. By the 1850s the tower was in disrepair and close to the edge of the cliff, so the current tower was started in 1854 and lit in 1856.[1] It was equipped with a first order Fresnel lens standing about 12 feet (4m) tall and weighing several tons (tonnes). In 1952 the Fresnel lens was replaced by a Carlisle & Finch DCB-224 aero beacon. The original lens is in a replica lantern at the Martha's Vineyard Museum in Edgartown, Massachusetts.[4]

The tower is open to the public at specified hours during the summer months. It was visited by President Barack Obama and his family during their vacation on the island in August 2009.[4] It appears briefly in the background of the movie Jaws as Chief Brody is driving to the beach.[5]

The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Gay Head Light on June 15, 1987, reference number 87001464.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-09-05. http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHMA.asp. 
  2. ^ United States Coast Guard (2009). Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. p. 8. 
  3. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
  4. ^ a b Rowlett, Russ (2009-09-05). "Lighthouses of the United States: Southeast Massachusetts". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/ma2.htm. 
  5. ^ (DVD) Jaws, 30th Anniversary Edition. Universal Pictures. Event occurs at 7:29. ISBN 1-4170-5776-9.