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This is America's second oldest
light station, after Boston Light (1716), and an astounding total
of nine different lighthouse structures have stood here over
the years, not including a bonfire on a hogshead (barrel) that
was said to be in use as early as 1700.
By the 1740s, Nantucket's whaling industry was growing fast.
At a town meeting in January 1746, the merchants and mariners
of Sherburne, as the town was then called, voted to erect a lighthouse
at Brant Point to mark the point around which all vessels passed
as they enter edthe island's inner harbor.
The sum of 200 English pounds was appropriated for the lighthouse,
and three men were assigned the duty of building the structure.
The keeping of the light in the first lighthouse was left to
the ship owners.
No detailed description survives of the wooden 1746 lighthouse,
which burned down in 1757 -- probably the result of an oil fire.
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The second light, also made of wood, was destroyed in a storm
in March 1774, which was described in a newspaper as the "most
violent gust of wind that perhaps was ever known there."
The storm, probably a tornado, also destroyed many buildings
on the island. A third Brant Point Light was paid for by a tax
on shipping coming into the area. All vessels of 15 tons or more
were charged six shillings at the time of their first coming
or going each year.
In September 1781, a band of Loyalist privateers entered Nantucket
Harbor. American forces from Cape Cod came to Nantucket and set
up cannons at Brant Point. They fired on the Loyalist vessels
and managed to force them out of the harbor.
In 1783 the lighthouse burned down again. A new light was
erected, no more than a lantern hoisted up between two spars.
This structure burned down in 1786. The fifth lighthouse lasted
only two years before it was destroyed by a storm. The next lighthouse,
built by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1788, was ceded
to the federal government in 1795, the same year the town changed
its name from Sherburne to Nantucket. The light was extinguished
during the War of 1812.
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By the 1820s, over 200 Nantucket whaling ships were in service
and a new, more efficient lighthouse was called for. A new Brant
Point Light was built in 1825 at a cost of $1,600. The tower
was situated on top of the keeper's house.
The lighting apparatus consisted of eight lamps and reflectors.
An 1838 inspection by Lt. Edward W. Carpender of the U.S. Navy
reported, "I found the lantern smoked, tube-glasses the
same, lamps not trimmed, and reflectors looking as if weeks or
months had elapsed since they had been cleaned, they were so
black and spotted."
An 1843 inspection by I.W.P. Lewis showed Brant Point Light
to be in very poor condition. "In case of a high flood tide,"
said Lewis, "the whole structure might be swept away."
The cellar, where oil was stored, was often flooded. The tower
was also reported to be leaky, and the lantern had become very
rusty. The keeper was given no boat, and complained that "In
case of necessity, I have no means of saving my family, should
a storm destroy the house"
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- The 1856 tower
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- The 1856 tower today
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In 1856, the station was rebuilt at a cost of $15,000, this
time a 47-foot brick tower was built along with a new brick keeper's
house. The tower received a fourth-order Fresnel lens showing
a fixed red light.
This lighthouse still stands, west of the present Brant Point
Light, minus its lantern room. It is part of U.S. Coast Guard
Station Brant Point.
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- Entering Nantucket Harbor, from A
Trip to Cape Cod, 1898
In the 1800s, several other lights were erected near Brant
Point. A light known as the Nantucket Beacon for a time served
as a range light with Brant Point Light. The lights would be
lined up as mariners entered the harbor. Another pair of range
lights was established on skeletal towers in 1908; these lights
are still in use.
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Two other lights, the Cliff Range Beacons, were established
near Brant Point in 1838, along with a keeper's dwelling. Peleg
Easton was made keeper of the Range Beacons at $300 per year.
These lights, popularly known as the Bug Lights, were later
rebuilt and remained in service until 1912. They were sold to
a private party and moved near Bathing Beach Road, where they
still stand.
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- The Cliff Range Beacons today
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Because of shifts in the channel, the 1856 lighthouse was
discontinued in 1900. It was replaced for a short time by a fixed
red light on a pole.
The present Brant Point Light was built 596 feet east of the
previous one in 1901 and fitted with a fifth order Fresnel lens.
Its white light was changed to red in 1933 to avoid confusion
with house lights.
The lighthouse originally had a 1,000 pound fog bell. An oil
house was added in 1904.
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- Plans for the 1901 tower
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There was eventually an assistant keeper assigned to the station
to help with the extra duties of tending the fog bell and the
Brant Point Beacon. A small assistant keeper's house was added.
Gerald M. Reed, formerly at the Plymouth Light Station, arrived
as keeper in December 1926. Reed came with his family aboard
a lighthouse tender on Christmas Eve. Because it would have been
dangerous to unload the family and belongings by rowboat in the
dark, the Reeds spent Christmas Eve onboard the ship and came
ashore on Christmas morning, 1926.
Soon after it was built, the new Brant Point Light was threatened
by the sea, so 500 tons of riprap were placed around the beach.
The white light at Brant Point was changed to red in 1933 to
avoid confusion with nearby house lights. The light was automated
in 1965.
In 1983, the entire Brant Point Station complex was renovated
by the Coast Guard. In the fall of 2000, the Coast Guard and
Campbell Construction Group completed an overhaul of the lighthouse.
The design work for the renovation was done by Marsha Levy from
Civil Engineering Unit Providence, Rhode Island. The six-week
project entailed removing the lead paint from the lantern and
replacing all the lantern glass, reshingling the tower, repainting
the entire structure, and replacing the interior stucco work.
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- Keeper Gerald M. Reed (L) and Asst.
Keeper Frank W. Craig in August, 1932
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- The lighthouse during the 2000 restoration
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Brant Point Light's occulting red light is 26 feet above sea
level, making it one of the lowest of New England's lights. It
is seen by thousands of people each year as they enter and leave
Nantucket on ferries from the mainland.
The long tradition of arriving at Nantucket by "coming
'round Brant Point" appears destined to continue well into
the future.
You can read much more about this lighthouse in the book The Lighthouses
of Massachusetts by Jeremy D'Entremont.
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Keepers: David Coffin (?-1831); David Coffin 2nd (1831-
?); James Allen (c. 1850); W. H. Swain (c. 1867); F. B. Smith
(c. 1882); John Chapman (1898-1907); Everett Joy (1907-1911);
Richard Dixon (1911-1926); Gerald M. Reed (1926-1941); Frank
W. Craig (asst., c. 1932).
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