Nauset Light

Nauset Light

Nauset Light and lightkeeper's house
Location	Cape Cod, Boston approach. Eastham, Massachusetts
Coordinates	41°51′36″N 69°57′12″W
Tower
Constructed	1838
Foundation	Concrete (re-erected 1923)
Construction	Cast iron with brick lining
Automated	1952
Height	48 feet (15 m), 114 feet above sea level
Shape	Conical
Markings	upper red, lower white with black lantern
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Light
First lit	1878 (current light)
Deactivated	1996
Focal height	37 m (121 ft)
Lens	Fourth order fresnel
Range	White 24 nm, Red 20 nm
Characteristic	Alternating (2) white and red 10s with the flashing following pattern: 0.1s on, 4.9s off, 0.1s on, 4.9s off. Lighted throughout 24 house, Private aid.

Nauset Light, also known as Nauset Beach Light, is a lighthouse located in Eastham, Massachusetts. Standing 48 feet (15 m) high, it is made of a combination of brick and cast iron. It was constructed in 1877 and was originally located in Chatham. It was moved to Eastham in 1923 to replace the "Three Sisters of Nauset," three smaller, wooden lighthouses that had been decommissioned. (They have since been "retired" to a small field some 1,000 feet (300 m) west of the Nauset Light.) In the 1940s it was painted red and white, to reflect its red and white beacon. In 1987, Nauset Light was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Due to coastal erosion, by the early 1990s Nauset Light stood less than 25 feet (7.6 m) next to the edge of a cliff. In response, a group of local citizens formed The Nauset Light Preservation Society in 1993 to rescue the lighthouse. The culmination of their efforts was a relocation of Nauset Light in November 1996, to a location 300 feet (91 m) west of the original one. This is where the lighthouse currently rests.

The lighthouse was originally owned and operated by the United States Coast Guard, but passed into private ownership in 1955. It was owned by author Mary Daubenspeck until she donated the tower and grounds to the National Park Service in the late 1990s. The park service leases the tower and grounds to the Nauset Light Preservation Society, who are currently responsible for its maintenance.

The lighthouse is the logo for Cape Cod Potato Chips.

External links

• The Nauset Light Preservation Society
• Nauset Light history