U.S. Coast Guard photo Note the size of the Fresnel lens compared to the man standing outside the lantern |
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Location | Aquinnah, Massachusetts |
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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
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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]
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