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    • Maine Lighthouses
      • Baker Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, Maine
      • 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
      • Deer Island Thorofare Light, Maine
      • 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
      • Fort Point Lighthouse, California
      • New Point Loma Light, California
      • Old Point Loma Light, California
      • Pigeon Point Light, California
      • Point Arena Light, California
      • Point Bonita Light, California
      • Point Cabrillo Light, California
      • Point Fermin Light, California
      • Point Montara Lighthouse, California
      • Point Pinos Lighthouse, California
      • Point Reyes Lighthouse, California
      • Point Sur Light, California
      • Point Vicente Light, California
      • Santa Cruz Light, California
      • Table Bluff Lighthouse, California
      • Trinidad Head Memorial Light, California
    • 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
      • Michigan City Light, Indiana
    • Louisiana Lighthouses
      • New Canal Lighthouse, Louisiana
    • Maryland Lighthouses
      • 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
    • Pennsylvania Lighthouses
      • Presque Isle Lighthouse, Pennsylvania
      • Presque Isle North Pierhead Light, Pennsylvania
      • Turtle Rock Lighthouse
    • Rhode Island Lighthouses
      • Beavertail Lighthouse, Rhode Island
      • Bristol Ferry Lighthouse, Rhode Island
      • Castle Hill Lighthouse, Rhode Island
      • Conanicut Island Light, Rhode Island
      • Conimicut Lighthouse, Rhode Island
      • Dutch Island Lighthouse, Rhode Island
      • Goat Island Lighthouse, Rhode Island
      • Hog Island Shoal Lighthouse, Rhode Island
      • Ida Lewis Rock Light, Rhode Island
      • Nayatt Point Lighthouse, Rhode Island
      • North Lighthouse, Block Island, Rhode Island
      • Plum Beach Lighthouse, Rhode Island
      • Point Judith Lighthouse, Rhode Island
      • Pomham Rocks Lighthouse, Rhode Island
      • Poplar Point Light, Rhode Island
      • Prudence Island Light, Rhode Island
      • Rose Island Lighthouse, Rhode Island
      • Southeast Lighthouse, Block Island, Rhode Island
      • Warwick Neck Lighthouse, Rhode Island
      • Watch Hill Lighthouse, Rhode Island
    • South Carolina Lighthouses
      • Morris Island Light, South Carolina
      • Hunting Island Light, South Carolina
    • Vermont Lighthouses
      • Colchester Reef Lighthouse, Vermont
      • Isle La Motte Lighthouse, Vermont
      • Windmill Point Lighthouse
    • Washington Lighthouses
      • Admiralty Head Lighthouse, Washington
      • Alki Point Lighthouse, Washington
      • Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, Washington
      • Grays Harbor Lighthouse, Washington
      • Lime Kiln Light, Washington
      • Mukilteo Lighthouse, Washington
      • North Head Lighthouse, Washington
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    • Wisconsin Lighthouses
      • Wind Point Light, Wisconsin
      • North Point Lighthouse
    • New Brunswick Lighthouses
      • Gannet Rock Lighthouse, Grand Manan, New Brunswick
      • Machias Seal Island Lighthouse, New Brunswick
      • Swallowtail Lighthouse, Grand Manan
    • Nova Scotia Lighthouses
      • Cape Forchu Light, Nova Scotia
      • Georges Island Light, Nova Scotia
      • Peggys Cove Light, Nova Scotia
      • Seal Island Light, Nova Scotia
      • West Pubnico Light, Nova Scotia
    • Prince Edward Island Lighthouses
      • North Rustico Lighthouse, Prince Edward Island
    • Quebèc Lighthouses
      • Pointe à la Renommée Light, Quebec
    • Lighthouse Trips
      • 2012-06-22 Penobscot Bay Cruise, Maine
      • 2011-09-10 Boothbay Lighthouse Cruise with NELL
      • 2011-09-18 Trip to Mount Desert Rock Light
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Plum Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts

Lying off the northern coast of Massachusetts is a barrier island 9 miles long and 1 mile wide named Plum Island. Early in the 1600’s the island was used as pasture land for the three communities of Ipswich, Newbury and Rowley. The northern end of the island marked the entrance into the Merrimack River and was used by shipping to arrive at the town of Newburyport. Due to constantly shifting sands the entrance to the river was dangerous and mariners at times would light fires on the northern end of Plum Island. In 1783 merchants in Newburyport funded the erection of two private lighthouses on Plum Island as the first range lights built in the United States to aid shipping.
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His duties were assumed by his son Joseph Lowell who would go on the serve 14 years.  By the end of Joseph’s term as keeper the Lowell family had tended the Plum Island Lighthouses for a total of 47 years.
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His duties were assumed by his son Joseph Lowell who would go on the serve 14 years. By the end of Joseph’s term as keeper the Lowell family had tended the Plum Island Lighthouses for a total of 47 years.

PlumIslandLight20140329

  • In 1786 a storm destroyed the two lighthouses built at the northern end of Plum Island.  The merchants of Newburyport petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts to rebuild the lighthouses at the government’s expense.  The General Court responded by passing an act to have the lights rebuilt at a cost not to exceed £300.
  • The act provided that the new range lights were to be built without a permanent base so that when the sands shifted at the river entrance, the range lights could be moved accordingly to mark the safe approach into the river.  The General Court also resolved to pay the Keeper of the Plum Island light houses a yearly sum of £66.
  • The two wooden 37 foot light towers were completed and lit on April 14, 1788.  In 1789 with the adoption of the Constitution, the process of transferring lighthouses from the states to the Federal government began.
  • On June 10, 1790 the General Court passed an act conferring the Plum Island Lighthouses to the United States “provided nevertheless, that if the United States shall at any time hereafter neglect to keep lighted and in repair any one or more of the Light-houses aforesaid, then the grant of such Light House or Light Houses so neglected shall be void & of no effect”.
  • George Washington signed the appointment of Abner Lowell of Newburyport as the light keeper  on March 10, 1790.  It is probable that Lowell was already serving as the Keeper prior to this appointment.  Abner was the first of three generations of Lowell’s to keep the Plum Island Lighthouses.
  • In 1808 the two lighthouses were blown flat in a severe storm and Congress appropriated $10,000 in 1809 to have the beacons rebuilt.  Abner Lowell continued to serve as Keeper for almost 25 years retiring in 1815 when his son Lewis succeeded him as the new Keeper.
  • On a cold day in December 1823 Lewis Lowell attempted to keep the whale oil in one of the lighthouses lamps from congealing by setting a charcoal fire under the oil reservoir in the lantern.  He was overcome by the fumes from the charcoal and died.
  • His duties were assumed by his son Joseph Lowell who would go on the serve 14 years.  By the end of Joseph’s term as keeper the Lowell family had tended the Plum Island Lighthouses for a total of 47 years.
  • In 1838 Congress appropriated $4,000 for the rebuilding of the lighthouse towers, however files show that only $950 of the appropriation was used.  It would appear that the 1809 towers were repaired rather than replaced, especially since an 1842 inspection by I.W.P Lewis found them to be ‘dilapidated, leaky, and out of position to the bar channel’.  The inspection report stated the lanterns contained 8 oil lamps with 12 inch reflectors.
  • I.W.P. Lewis suggested erecting two towers 100 feet apart atop of a rail system.  The lights could be then moved along the rails to keep them in alignment with the river channel.  Instead of adopting this novel idea, the Lighthouse Establishment repaired and repositioned the towers once again.
  • In 1855 a new smaller tower known as the ‘Bug Light’ was added to the lighting system on Plum Island.  In August the following year one of the original towers was destroyed when it was struck by lightning and burned.  Rather than replace the destroyed tower the Bug Light was used as the front range light.
  • The remaining rear tower received a fifth order Fresnel lens.  This was upgraded to a fourth order lens in 1871.
  • In 1872 a new 2 story Victorian wood framed Keepers dwelling was added to the station.  In 1890 the Bug Light was discontinued and no longer functioned as the Front Range light.  After 100 years as a twin light station the Plum Island Light Station became home to a single light.
  • In 1898 the old rear tower was replaced with a new 45 foot conical wooden tower.  This is the tower which survives today.  The tower has a brick-lined interior sheathed in plywood with a 30 step wooden staircase leading to a ladder to the octagonal iron lantern room.  The Fresnel lens was moved from the 1809 tower into the new lantern room and was first lit in September 1898.
  • Electricity replaced the kerosene lantern at the Plum Island Lighthouse in 1927.  Later in 1951 the Coast Guard automated the lighthouse and removed the Keeper.  The keepers dwelling subsequently became the headquarters of the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge.
  • In 1990 the tower was restored by the Coast Guard who repaired and painted the towers walls and replaced the ventilator ball atop the lantern.  The restoration continued for the next few years with the installation of a new oak door and new window panes.
  • The Friends of Plum Island Light was formed by a group of concerned citizens in 1995 to care for the lighthouse.  In May 2003 ownership of the lighthouse was transferred from the Coast Guard to the City of Newburyport.  The Friends of Plum Island entered into a 10 year lease agreement to continue to care for the light.  The Friends hold Open Houses during the summer at the lighthouse and continue to raise funds for its maintenance.
  • An old postcard view of the Plum Island Light Station showing the Keepers dwelling and the oil house.
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