Bird Island Light
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| Location | Sippican Harbor, Marion, Massachusetts |
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| Coordinates | 41°40′9.5″N 70°43′2.4″W / 41.669306°N 70.717333°WCoordinates: 41°40′9.5″N 70°43′2.4″W / 41.669306°N 70.717333°W |
| Year first constructed | 1819 |
| Year first lit | 1819 |
| Automated | 1997 |
| Deactivated | 1933-1997 |
| Foundation | Surface rock |
| Construction | Rubble stone |
| Tower shape | Conical |
| Markings / pattern | White |
| Focal height | 37 feet (11 m) |
| Original lens | Fourth order Fresnel lens |
| Characteristic | Fl W 6s |
| Fog signal | Original, pyramidal bell tower, none now |
| ARLHS number | USA-057 |
| USCG number | 1-17105[1][2] |
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Bird Island Light | |
| Area | 3 acres (1.2 ha) |
| Built | 1819 |
| Governing body | Local |
| MPS | Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR |
| NRHP Reference # |
87002030 [3] |
| Added to NRHP | September 28, 1987 |
Bird Island Light is an historic lighthouse at the entrance to Sippican Harbor, Marion, Massachusetts.
The current 37 feet (11 m)[4] tower was built when the light was first established in 1819. Three months after it was first lit, with William Moore as the keeper, it was badly damaged by a storm. It was again severely damaged on September 8, 1869 and, again, repaired. It was deactivated by the USCG in 1933. All of the buildings except the tower were destroyed in the hurricane of 1938. In 1940 the island passed into private hands and was acquired by the Town of Marion in 1966. The light was briefly lit in 1976. The Bird Island Preservation Society was formed in 1994 and on July 4, 1997, the light was relit as a Private Aid to Navigation.[2]
The island, but not the tower, is open to visitors except during the May through August nesting season of the endangered Roseate Tern.[1][4]
The island was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Bird Island Light on September 28, 1987, reference number 87002030.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-09-05.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 United States Coast Guard (2009). Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. p. 154.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Rowlett, Russ (2009-08-06). "Lighthouses of the United States: Northern Massachusetts". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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