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      • Baker Island Lighthouse, Maine
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      • Blue Hill Bay Light, Maine
      • Boon Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Browns Head Lighthouse, Vinalhaven, Maine
      • Burnt Coat Harbor Lighthouse, Swans Island, Maine
      • Burnt Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Cape Elizabeth Light, Maine
      • Cape Neddick (the Nubble) Light, Maine
      • Cuckolds Light, Maine
      • Curtis Island Light, Maine
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      • Doubling Point Lighthouse, Maine
      • Dyce Head Lighthouse, Maine
      • Eagle Island Light, Maine
      • Egg Rock Lighthouse, Maine
      • Fort Point Lighthouse, Maine
      • Franklin Island Light, Maine
      • Goat Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Goose Rocks Lighthouse, Maine
      • Great Duck Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Grindle Point Lighthouse, Maine
      • Halfway Rock Lighthouse, Maine
      • Hendricks Head Lighthouse, Maine
      • Heron Neck Lighthouse, Maine
      • Indian Island Light, Maine
      • Kennebec River Range Lights, Maine
      • Libby Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Little River Lighthouse, Maine
      • Lubec Channel Lighthouse, Maine
      • Marshall Point Lighthouse, Maine
      • Matinicus Rock Light, Maine
      • Monhegan Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Moose Peak Lighthouse, Maine
      • Mount Desert Rock Lighthouse, Maine
      • Narraguagus Island Light, Maine
      • Nash Island Light, Maine
      • Owls Head Lighthouse, Maine
      • Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Maine
      • Perkins Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Petit Manan Lighthouse, Maine
      • Pond Island Light, Maine
      • Popham Beach Life Saving Station
      • Portland Breakwater Lighthouse, Maine
      • Portland Head Lighthouse, Maine
      • Prospect Harbor Lighthouse, Maine
      • Pumpkin Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Ram Island Ledge Light, Maine
      • Ram Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Robinson Point Lighthouse on Isle Au Haut, Maine
      • Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse, Maine
      • Rockland Harbor Southwest Light, Maine
      • Saddleback Ledge Light, Maine
      • Seguin Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Southern Island Light, Maine
      • Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse, Maine
      • Squirrel Point Lighthouse, Maine
      • Two Bush Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, Maine
      • Whaleback Light, Maine
      • Whitehead Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Winter Harbor Lighthouse, Maine
      • Wood Island Lighthouse, Maine
    • California Lighthouses
      • Alcatraz Light, California
      • Battery Point Lighthouse, California
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      • Old Point Loma Light, California
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      • Point Arena Light, California
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      • Santa Cruz Light, California
      • Table Bluff Lighthouse, California
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    • Connecticut Lighthouses
      • Avery Point Lighthouse
      • Faulkners Island Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Fayerweather Island Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Five Mile Point Light, Connecticut
      • Great Captain Island Lighthouse
      • Latimer Reef Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Lynde Point Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Morgan Point Lighthouse, Connectitcut
      • Mystic Seaport Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • New London Harbor Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • New London Ledge Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Penfield Reef Lighthouse
      • Race Rock Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Sheffield Island Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Stamford Harbor Lighthouse
      • Stonington Harbor Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Stratford Point Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Stratford Shoal Lighthouse
      • Tongue Point Lighthouse
    • Delaware Lighthouses
      • Harbor of Refuge Light, Delaware
      • Delaware Breakwater Lighthouse, Delaware
      • Fenwick Island Lighthouse
      • Liston Rear Range Light
      • Overfalls Lightship, Delaware
      • Mispillion Lighthouse, Delaware
      • Reedy Island Rear Range Light
      • Marcus Hook Rear Range Light
    • Florida Lighthouses
      • Amelia Island Lighthouse, Florida
      • American Shoal Lighthouse, Florida
      • Cape Canaveral Light, Florida
      • Cape Florida Lighthouse, Florida
      • Crooked River Lighthouse
      • Faro Blanco Light, Florida
      • Garden Key Lighthouse, Florida
      • Gasparilla Island Lights, Florida
      • Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse, Florida
      • Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse
      • Key West Lighthouse, Florida
      • Loggerhead Key Lighthouse, Florida
      • Pensacola Lighthouse
      • Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, Florida
      • Sand Key Lighthouse, Florida
      • Sanibel Island Lighthouse, Florida
      • St. Augustine Lighthouse, Florida
      • St. John's River Lighthouse, Florida
      • St. Marks Lighthouse, Florida
      • Sombrero Key Lighthouse
    • Georgia Lighthouses
      • St. Simons Island Lighthouse, Georgia
      • Tybee Island Lighthouse, Georgia
    • Hawai'i Lighthouses
      • Diamond Head Lighthouse, O'ahu, Hawai'i
      • Kilauea Point Lighthouse, Kaua'i, Hawai'i
      • Lahaina Harbor Lighthouse, Mau'i, Hawai'i
      • Makapu'u Light, Oahu, Hawai'i
      • Moloka'i Lighthouse, Moloka'i, Hawai'i
    • Illinois Lighthouses
      • Grosse Point Light, Illinois
    • Indiana Lighthouses
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    • Louisiana Lighthouses
      • New Canal Lighthouse, Louisiana
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      • Baltimore Light, Maryland
      • Chesapeake Lightship, Maryland
      • Concord Point Lighthouse, Maryland
      • Cove Point Light, Maryland
      • Choptank River Lighthouse
      • Drum Point Lighthouse, Maryland
      • Fishing Battery Light, Maryland
      • Hooper Strait Lighthouse, Maryland
      • Piney Point Light, Maryland
      • Point Lookout Lighthouse, Maryland
      • Sandy Point Light, Maryland
      • Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse, Maryland
      • Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, Maryland
      • Turkey Point Lighthouse, Maryland
    • Massachusetts Lighthouses
      • Annisquam Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Baker's Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Bass River Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Bird Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Brant Point Lighthouse, Nantucket
      • Butler Flats Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Boston Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Cape Poge Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Chatham Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Clark's Point Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Cleveland Ledge Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Deer Island Light, Massachusetts
      • Derby Wharf Light, Massachusetts
      • Dog Bar Breakwater Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Duxbury Pier Light, Massachusetts
      • East Chop Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Eastern Point Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Edgartown Harbor Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Gay Head Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Graves Light, Massachusetts
      • Great Point Lighthouse, Nantucket, Massachusetts
      • Highland Lighthouse, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
      • Hospital Point Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Lewis Bay Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Marblehead Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Mayo's Beach Lighthouse
      • Minots Ledge Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Monomoy Point Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Nantucket Lightship, Massachusetts
      • Nauset Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Ned's Point Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Newburyport Harbor Range Lights, Massachusetts
      • Nobska Point Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Palmer Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Plum Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Plymouth Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Race Point Lighthouse, Cape Cod Massachusetts
      • Sandy Neck Lighthouse
      • Sankaty Head Lighthouse
      • Scituate Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Stage Harbor Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Straitsmouth Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Tarpaulin Cove Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Ten Pound Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Thacher Island Twin Lights, Massachusetts
      • Three Sisters of Nauset Lighthouses, Massachusetts
      • West Chop Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Wings Neck Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Winter Island Lighthouse
      • Brant Point Lighthouse, Nantucket MA
    • New Hampshire Lighthouses
      • Isles of Shoals Light, New Hampshire
      • Portsmouth Harbor Light, New Hampshire
    • New Jersey Lighthouses
      • Absecon Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Barnegat Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Brandywine Shoal Light, New Jersey
      • Cape May Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Chapel Hill Rear Range Light, New Jersey
      • Conover Beacon Front Range Light, New Jersey
      • East Point Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Finns Point Lighthouse
      • Fourteen Foot Bank Light, New Jersey
      • Hereford Inlet Lighthouse, North Wildwood, New Jersey
      • Miah Maull Shoal Light, New Jersey
      • Sandy Hook Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Sea Girt Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Ship John Shoal Light, New Jersey
      • Twin Lights of Navesink, New Jersey
      • Tinicum Rear Range Lighthouse, New Jersey
    • New York Lighthouses
      • Ambrose Lightship, New York
      • Big Sodus Light, New York
      • Blackswell Island Light, New York
      • Buffalo Main Lighthouse, New York
      • Cape Vincent Breakwater Lighthouse, New York
      • Clayton Memorial Lighthouse, New Yrok
      • Coney Island Lighthouse, New York
      • Crossover Island Lighthouse, New York
      • Dunkirk Light, New York
      • Esopus Meadows Lighthouse, New York
      • Execution Rocks Lighthouse, New York
      • Fire Island Lighthouse, New York
      • Horton Point Light, New York
      • Montauk Point Lighthouse, New York
      • Ogdensburg Harbor Lighthouse, New York
      • Old Field Point Lighthouse, New York
      • Rock Island Lighthouse, New York
      • Rondout Creek Lighthouse, New York
      • Saugerties Lighthouse, New York
      • Selkirk Lighthouse, New York
      • Sister Islands Lighthouse, New York
      • Staten Island Light, New York
      • Stepping Stones Lighthouse
      • Stony Point Lighthouse, New York
      • Sunken Rock Lighthouse, New York
      • Tarrytown Lighthouse, New York
      • Tibbetts Point Lighthouse, New York
    • North Carolina Lighthouses
      • Bodie Island Light, North Carolina
      • Ocracoke Light, North Carolina
      • Cape Hatteras Light, North Carolina
    • Ohio Lighthouses
      • Fairport Harbor Light, Ohio
      • Fairport Harbor West Breakwater Light, Ohio
      • Marblehead Light, Ohio
    • Oregon Lighthouses
      • Cape Meares Light, Oregon
      • Cleft of the Rock Light, Oregon
      • Coquille River Lighthouse, Oregon
      • Heceta Head Light, Oregon
      • Umpqua River Light, Oregon
      • Yaquina Bay Light, Oregon
      • Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Oregon
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      • Presque Isle Lighthouse, Pennsylvania
      • Presque Isle North Pierhead Light, Pennsylvania
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      • Gannet Rock Lighthouse, Grand Manan, New Brunswick
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      • Cape Forchu Light, Nova Scotia
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    • Lighthouse Trips
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Marblehead Lighthouse, Massachusetts

Marblehead, Massachusetts is home to the only iron skeleton tower lighthouse in the northeastern United States, which makes it unique. During the early 1800’s the area north of Boston was busy with maritime commerce in its rocky harbors. In 1831 the citizens of Marblehead petitioned Congress to build a lighthouse to mark the entrance to their harbor.
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The first Marblehead Lighthouse was completed in 1835.  The structure was a 23 foot rubblestone tower with a 91 foot covered walkway to the Keepers dwelling.  A hen house, barn, waterpump, boathouse and a privy were also built to complete the station.
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The first Marblehead Lighthouse was completed in 1835. The structure was a 23 foot rubblestone tower with a 91 foot covered walkway to the Keepers dwelling. A hen house, barn, waterpump, boathouse and a privy were also built to complete the station.

1008820MarbleheadLighthouse

  • In 1834 Congress approved the construction of a lighthouse on Marblehead Neck and appropriated $4,500 for the project.  A farmer named Ephraim Brown owned the land at Marblehead Neck and did not wish to sell a parcel to the government.  Eventually he was persuaded to sell 4 acres of his land for $375.
  • Construction of the lighthouse station was opposed by the Army officers of a nearby fort.  This prompted Stephen Pleasonton, the head of the Lighthouse Service, to write a letter to the Secretary of War requesting him to instruct the fort commander to allow construction proceed.
  • The first Marblehead Lighthouse was completed in 1835.  The structure was a 23 foot rubblestone tower with a 91 foot covered walkway to the Keepers dwelling.  A hen house, barn, waterpump, boathouse and a privy were also built to complete the station.
  • The first Keeper assigned to Marblehead Light was Ezekiel Darling, who had served as a gunner on the U.S.S. Constitution.  Darling lit the oil lamps in the tower for the first time on October 10, 1835.  Darling received a lifesaving medal from the Massachusetts Humane Society for rescues performed during his tenure.
  • A 6th Order Fresnel lens replaced the oil lamps in the lantern in 1857.  During the 1860’s the land surrounding the lighthouse was subdivided and eventually summer homes were constructed on Marblehead Neck.  By the 1880’s the tiny lighthouse was obscured by opulent homes along the coast.
  • In July 1883 an auxiliary light was constructed near the lighthouse.  This required the Keeper to light a lamp and hoist it to the top of a 100 foot pole.  It was difficult to keep the lantern lit but this method was used for the next 12 years.
  • The Light House Board recommended that a new taller tower be constructed at Marblehead Neck in its Annual Reports of 1893 & 1894.  Finally, the project was approved in 1895.  The winning bid for the project proposed that a 105 foot iron erector tower be built.
  • While construction proceeded, a small temporary wooden tower was used while the old 23 foot light was demolished.  The new iron tower was built as a square based pyramid with eight pilings built atop concrete disks.  The center of the tower contained a 127 step stairway to the lantern room.  There are landings on the stairway every 21 steps, leading to a six rung ladder into the lantern room.
  • The 6th Order Fresnel was moved into the new lantern 130 feet above sea level and was illuminated for the 1st time on April 17, 1896.
  • An oil house was added to the lighthouse station in 1907.
  • During World War I military personnel were posted to the stations boathouse and a telephone line was run to the building, this remained after the war and the Keeper finally had access to a telephone.  When electricity was run to the lighthouse tower in 1922, the lights characteristic was changed to a red light.  The Keepers house however was not electrified and he continued to use oil lamps in his quarters.  The light was changed to the current green color in 1938.
  • When the Great Hurricane of 1938 hit New England, Marblehead Light lost power and its light.  Keeper Harry S. Marden solved the problem by driving his car up to the lighthouse and connecting his car battery to the lighthouse.  He kept the light on throughout the storm.
  • From 1941 to 1946, Marblehead Neck was fenced in by the military for use as an Army reservation.  The area was off limits to the public.  In 1947 a local yachtsman Chandler Hovey purchased the land surrounding the lighthouse and donated it to the town for use as a park.  The superintendent of Marblehead’s parks, Joseph Barry and his wife, lived in the Keepers house until it was torn down in 1959.
  • In 1960 the Marblehead Lighthouse was automated and its Fresnel lens was replaced with a modern optic.  The tower was sandblasted and repainted in 1980 and again in 1993.  The tower is looked after by the Town of Marblehead while the Coast Guard maintains the navigational aid.  The lighthouse in Chandler Hovey Park serves as a gathering place for Marblehead residents who string lights on lighthouse for the 4th of July and Christmas.
  • Postcard showing the original Marblehead Lighthouse
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