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Salem was declining as a center
for overseas trade by 1870 when this lighthouse was built at
the end of Derby Wharf, but coastal trade and the fishing industry
were still going strong and Salem was considered an important
harbor of refuge for vessels passing along the coast. The half-mile
wharf dates back to 1762 and reached its present length by 1806;
it's now part of the Salem Maritime National Historical Site.
Author Nathaniel Hawthorne worked as a clerk for a time in the
Customs House across the street from the wharf.
For years, the twin lights at Baker's Island -- about three
miles east of the entrance to Salem Harbor -- had sufficed to
guide vessels into port, but the Lighthouse Board announced in
1869 that "three small lights" were required to "complete
the lighting of this harbor." |
- U.S. Coast Guard
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The square brick lighthouse, originally painted red, was built
for $3,000. The tower is 14 feet tall to the lantern level, and
each face of the tower is 12 feet across.
A fifth-order Fresnel lens exhibited a fixed red light from
25 feet above mean high water. The light on the wharf was first
lighted on January 17, 1871, replacing an older simple light
that had been exhibited at the end of the wharf.
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- Derby Wharf Light in the early 1900s
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Because of its proximity to the city, Derby Wharf Light always
had a caretaker rather than a resident keeper. There were only
six caretakers in the lighthouse's history, the longest stint
of service being John Lynch's 20 years beginning in 1885.
The
last caretaker before the automation of the light was William M.
Osgood, who walked to the lighthouse each morning and evening. During
the disastrous Salem fire of 1914, Osgood was occupied with saving his
own home on Summer Street. His wife took the keys and lit the
lighthouse for the evening, and it was reported that she was barely
able to escape the wharf before the flames swept in.
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In 1906, a fourth-order lens replaced the original lens. In
1910, a sixth-order lens was installed. The light was converted
to automatic operation, using acetylene gas, in October 1917.
The light was deactivated in 1977, and ownership went to the
National Park Service in 1979. In 1983, the Friends of Salem
Maritime had the lighthouse restored and relighted as a private
aid to navigation with a solar-powered optic, flashing red every
six seconds. The National Park Service had further restoration
on the lighthouse completed in 1989.
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It's an easy and pleasant walk to the lighthouse at the end
of Derby Wharf.
The Friendship, a replica of an eighteenth century
China trade vessel, is docked at Derby Wharf, and a replica of
a War of 1812 privateer, the Fame, is at nearby Pickering
Wharf.
For more information, contact:
Salem National Historic
Site
174 Derby St.
Salem, MA 01970
You can read much more about this lighthouse in the book The Lighthouses
of Massachusetts by Jeremy D'Entremont.
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- The Friendship
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Keepers: Robert Peele Jr. (1873-1885); John Lynch (1885-1905);
Shepley Paul Sawyer (1905-1908); Charles L. Wales (1908-1911),
N. C. Tedford (1911-1913), William M. Osgood (1913?-1917)
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