Five miles out to sea from Salem lies Baker's Island. Its delightful insular aloofness makes it the ideal location for a summer colony, with the cottages, grassy terrain, and rocky sea-cliffs.

-- Edward Rowe Snow, The Romance of Boston Bay.

The conical beacon erected in 1791 was 57 feet tall, painted red, and topped by a two-foot diameter black ball. The inadequacy of the beacon was soon proven by the wrecks of three vessels in 1796. Sixteen men perished in the wrecks. The Salem Marine Society sent a message to Congress:

That much of the property and many of the lives of their fellow citizens are almost every year lost in coming into the harbour of Salem for want of proper lights to direct their course... This calamity can, in the opinion of this society be prevented only by erecting a lighthouse on the northern end of Bakers Island . . .

Congress authorized $6,000 for the establishment of twin lights on Baker's Island. At first, three lights were considered so that Baker's Island wouldn't be confused with the pairs of twin lights at Thacher Island and Plymouth.

The original lights went into service on January 3, 1798. The two towers were located on top of a two-story keeper's house, about 40 feet apart at either end of the building. The first keeper was George Chapman, who served until 1815. Keeper Chapman later went blind, reportedly from the glare of the lights.

During the War of 1812, the U.S.S. Constitution was being chased by two British warships near Baker's Island. A harbor pilot stationed on the island, Joseph Perkins, saw that the ship was in need of assistance, so he rowed out to the frigate and piloted "Old Ironsides" safely into harbor. Perkins became the lightkeeper at Baker's Island in 1815. He kept a garden, as well as three cows, six pigs, rabbits and sheep.

In 1816, one of Baker's Island's twin lights was extinguished and the smaller one was rebuilt, with the new stone tower being three feet shorter than the original lower light. Mariners claimed this made it difficult to distinguish the light from Boston Light, a fact that was proven by an increased number of wrecks. One of the best known wrecks at Baker's Island was that of the ship Union in 1817. The ship carried a cargo of pepper and tin.

In 1820, the two lights were restored. A new 47-foot tower was built alongside the shorter 1816 tower. The lighthouses earned the nickname of the "Mr. and Mrs." or "Ma and Pa" lighthouses. I.W.P. Lewis's 1843 report described both towers as "leaky, and wood work generally rotten." Lewis pointed out the importance of the site, "...where so many valuable ships annually enter and depart from.." He continued, "No light-house of its class in Massachusetts is so poorly provided for in respect to the quality of the apparatus, which was old when introduced here, and now completely worn out."

Lewis saved his praise for Keeper Ambrose Martin: "The keeper is deserving of the greatest praise for the extreme neatness and order of the whole establishment, which is second to none in this particular."

Fresnel lenses were installed along with new lanterns in 1857, and the keeper's house was rebuilt at about the same time. In 1858, the keeper's house was described as having seven rooms: four bedrooms, a parlor, kitchen and sitting room.

Walter S. Rogers of Salem came to Baker's Island as an assistant keeper in 1872. Rogers was in poor health and weighed only 101 pounds when he came to the island. His health improved and he became principal keeper in 1874. By the time Rogers left the island in 1881, he had gained 115 pounds. He returned for a second stint as keeper in 1892. In 1894, Rogers recorded as many as 500 visitors to the light station in one day.

Baker's Island Twin Lights c. 1925 (U.S. Coast Guard)

Keeper Rogers reported in the winter of 1875 that Salem and Beverly harbors were frozen solid as far as Baker's Island. In 1879, a tornado struck Baker's Island, destroying the fog bell tower. This storm killed 30 people in the Boston Bay area.

Baker's Island's fog bell was sounded for 72 straight hours in October 1876. Later there were often problems with the bell striking mechanism and the keeper sometimes had to strike the bell with a hammer.

When a new air siren replaced the old fog bell at the lighthouse in 1907, the complaints of island residents were vehement. As a result, the signal was aimed at the sea through a megaphone so that it was barely audible on the island. The fog siren remained in use until it was replaced by an air horn in 1959. In July 1967, the fog signal at Baker's Island sounded for a record 324 hours and 20 minutes, or nearly half the month. One island resident said, "It doesn't bother us because you get used to it."

For a number of years, regular boat service brought sightseers to Baker's Island. On the Fourth of July in 1898, the tour boat Surf City picked up a load of tourists on the island at 4 p.m. and returned to the mainland at Salem Willows, where some of the passengers disembarked. The rest stayed on board to go on to Salem's neighboring city, Beverly. A short time later a sudden squall rained large hailstones on the vessel, and high winds caused it to list. The boat quickly filled with water and overturned. The majority of the passengers survived the disaster, but eight women and children died. One of the crewmen of the Surf City received a lifesaving medal for his part in saving most of those on board.

The smaller lighthouse was discontinued on June 30, 1926. A crew from the lighthouse tender Azalea began dismantling the tower two days later. The taller tower now houses a modern plastic optic.

The last civilian keeper was Arthur L. Payne. Keeper Payne served from 1918 to 1943, the longest stint of any keeper at Baker's. Payne also was appointed constable for the island in 1918, and in 1945 he was elected president of the Baker's Island Association. Historian Edward Rowe Snow wrote, "Keeper Payne will be remembered as a brave, deserving lighthouse man who faithfully performed his duty to the end." Keeper Payne brought the first automotive transportation to the island, a truck in 1921 and later a Briscoe touring car.

The Coast Guard stationed two keepers and their families on Baker's Island. In 1967, the only winter residents on the island were Coast Guard keeper Randall Anderson, his wife and seven-month old baby, and Coast Guardsman John Krebs and his wife. Said Krebs, "In the wintertime, you're all alone, really alone... It's awesome in a storm." The only company was "a lobsterman now and then."

The light was electrified in 1938 and automated in 1972. After the Coast Guard left, a Baker's Island committee screened applicants for a caretaker position. Henry and Mae Mackey were the first caretakers.

When a Coast Guard crew removed the Fresnel lens, which floated on a bed of mercury, they were overcome by fumes and had to be removed by helicopter. The lens is now on display at the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland, Maine. Click here to see a movie of the lens with commentary by Ken Black, founder of the Maine Lighthouse Museum.

For a time, the familiar red and white flash of Baker's Island Light was changed to a simple white flash. In 1974, the power of the light was increased and the flash was restored to an alternating white and red flash every 20 seconds.

In 1996, a $250,000 restoration project began. The crew hired by the Coast Guard found that some stones from near the top of the tower had fallen out, and the foundation was found to be almost crumbling. Contractor Martin Nally supervised the restoration.

Solar panels provide power for the light. Right: The renovated fog signal building.

In the summer of 2000, the Coast Guard solarized the light. At the same time they renovated the fog signal building. The brick was removed from the sealed windows and replaced with glass. The fog signal was removed from the top of the building and was placed on an adjacent concrete pad.

The stone stairs in the tower

A view from the top showing the two keeper's dwellings

The island is managed by the Baker's Island Association, founded in 1914. In 2002, under the provisions of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000, the light station was made available to a qualified new owner.

In late April 2005, it was announced that U.S. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton recommended that ownership be transferred to the Essex National Heritage Commission (ENHC). A committee of the National Park Service (NPS) had chosen the ENHC as the most qualified applicant.

The only other applicant was the Baker's Island Lighthouse Preservation Society, Inc. (BILPS), made up of island residents. BILPS challenged the decision of the NPS in court, but a federal judge upheld the original decision in late October 2006, possibly clearing the way for transfer to the ENHC.

The lighthouse can be seen from points in Salem, Marblehead and Manchester-by-the-Sea, but is best viewed by boat. Landing is not permitted on the island except by residents and their guests.

You can read much more about this lighthouse in the book The Lighthouses of Massachusetts by Jeremy D'Entremont.

Keepers: George Chapman (1798-1815); Joseph Perkins (1815-182?); Nathaniel Ward (?-1825, died on duty); Ambrose Martin (1825?-1843); Joseph G. Martin (1843-?); Daniel Norwood (?); Robert Peal (?); ? Russell (?-1861); Charles J. Williams (1861-1871); George Hobbs (1871-1874); Walter S. Rogers, assistant (1872-1874), then keeper (1874-1881, 1892-1911); James F. Lundgren, assistant, (1878-1881), then keeper (1881-1892); Eugene Terpeny (assistant, c.1893-1894), Elliott Hadley (1911-1918); Arthur L. Payne (1918-1943); Ernest Sampson, assistant (c. 1940); Benjamin E. Stewart (Coast Guard, c. 1940s); Paul Baptiste (Coast Guard, 1946-1951); Red Dawson (Coast Guard, ?); Bob Johnson (Coast Guard, ?); Clifford Willis (Coast Guard, ?); Leonard Mullen (Coast Guard, ?); Paul Guy (Coast Guard, ?); Paul Black (Coast Guard, ?); Andrew M. McLaughlin (Coast Guard Third Class Engineman, February 1956 - July 1956); Richard J. LaLonde (Coast Guard, First Class Engineman, c. 1956); Tex Blanchard (Coast Guard, ?); Allen C. Farrell (Coast Guard, ?); Gerald E. Ryan (Coast Guard, ?); Donald G. Trecartin (Coast Guard, 1962-?); Roger L. Lamascus (Coast Guard assistant, 1962-?); Randall Anderson (Coast Guard, c. 1967); John Krebs (Coast Guard, c. 1967).