| 1838 rear tower | |
| Location | Ipswich, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | |
| Year first constructed | 1838 |
| Year first lit | 1939 (current skeleton tower) |
| Construction | Original, Brick 1881, cast iron 1939, steel |
| Tower shape | Conical/conical/skeleton |
| Markings / pattern | White/white/Daymark NR |
| Focal height | 30ft (9m) |
| Characteristic | Original, fixed Soon thereafter, revolving Current, occulting white, 4 seconds |
| Fog signal | none |
| USCG number | 1-9315 |
| Location | Ipswich, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | |
| Year first constructed | 1838 |
| Deactivated | 1932 |
| Construction | Original, Brick Later, wood |
| Tower shape | Original, conical Later, shanty |
| Markings / pattern | White |
| Height | 29ft (9m) |
The Ipswich Range Lights are a pair of range lights on Crane Beach in Ipswich, Massachusetts. They have a long and varied story. They were first built as two brick towers, 542 feet (165m) apart on a more or less east-west line in 1838. The movement of the sands led to shifting of the towers and by 1881 the rear tower was badly cracked. It was replaced by a cast iron tower, while by 1867 the front light had been replaced by a movable wood structure that could be shifted as the channel shifted. The front light was discontinued in 1932 and the rear light was replaced in 1938 with a skeleton tower. It, or its replacement, is still in service today. The 1881 cast iron rear tower was loaded on a barge and shipped to Edgartown, Massachusetts where it replaced the Edgartown Harbor Light that had been destroyed in the Hurricane of 1938.[2]