When the English explorer Capt. John Smith visited the area around Cape Ann in 1614, he found an abundance of timber and a "silver stream" of cod and other fish. Smith's coat of arms depicted three Turks' heads on a shield, in commemoration of three consecutive jousting victories during a siege in Transylvania. As he traveled along Cape Ann's eastern shore, Smith encountered three prominent islands that he named the "Turks' Heads." These islands are now known as Thacher, Milk, and Straitsmouth.

U.S. Coast Guard photo, c. 1870s. Notice the "birdcage" style lantern

The area's vital granite business began in the 1820s, joining the fishing industry to put Rockport, which was then a part of Gloucester, on the map. In fact, before it was incorporated as a town in 1840, Rockport was known to many as Granitetown.

Rockport grew up around an indentation in the northeastern part of the cape known as Sandy Bay. It was determined that Straitsmouth Island, some 1,600 feet offshore near Gap Head at the bay's southeastern end, would be an ideal place for a lighthouse to guide vessels toward the busy harbor at Pigeon Cove, and also to help vessels pass through the channel between Thacher Island to the south and the rocks known as the Salvages, northeast of Straitsmouth. Congress appropriated $5,000 for the lighthouse in 1834.

A 19-foot lighthouse tower and a keeper's dwelling, both made of brick, were built on Straitsmouth Island in 1835. The first keeper was Benjamin Andrews, chosen because he was not likely to "serve as a juror, or to perform military duty."

John Davis became keeper in 1841 at a yearly salary of $350. After inspecting Straitsmouth Island Light in 1842, engineer I.W.P. Lewis called the station a "specimen of contract work of the worst kind." Davis complained that the house was poorly built and leaky, and that the water cistern in the cellar was so leaky that it was useless. Davis dismantled the cistern and made many repairs on the dwelling.

In his report, Lewis also pointed out that one of the original purposes of the lighthouse was to guide mariners through the narrow channel between Thacher Island and the Salvages. Unfortunately, the tower was situated about 500 feet out of position and failed to fulfill this purpose.

Straitsmouth Island Light c. 1890s. From the collection of Edward Rowe Snow, courtesy of Dorothy Bicknell

Several vessels were lost in storms in the 1830s and '40s in the vicinity of Straitsmouth Island. As an added safety measure, a warning buoy was placed near Avery's Rock, not far from Straitsmouth.

An 1850 inspection again reported that the tower and house were leaky, but the inspector passed along the good news that "the keeper informed me that a new tower was soon to be built." A 24-foot octagonal stone tower, at the northeast point of the island -- where it had been intended in the first place -- replaced the original lighthouse during the following year. In 1857, a sixth-order Fresnel lens was installed.

A new 1 1/2-story wood-frame keeper's house was built in 1878, and the present 37-foot brick lighthouse replaced the 1850 tower in 1896.

Part of the original plans for the 1896 tower. (U.S. Coast Guard)

 

Straitsmouth Island c. 1930

In 1932, the light was converted from white to green. The 1941 United States Coast Pilot reported that the light was 46 feet above the water and was visible for nine miles.

The light was converted to automatic opration by the 1930s. The island, except for the lighthouse, was sold into private hands in 1941. Frederic H. Gibbs donated the island, including the keeper's house, to the Massachusetts Audubon Society (MAS) in memory of his brother, William Francis Gibbs (a naval architect who directed the production of cargo-carrying Liberty ships during World War II), in 1967. The deed stated that the island was "to be used to improve the number and variety of wildlife inhabiting the sanctuary, and especially of native species."

The lighthouse continued as an active aid to navigation, but the abandoned house went quickly downhill. In the early 1980s, a local man named Charles Costello did some renovation of the dwelling only to have his work immediately ruined by vandals. He once replaced some windows and saw them broken within days.

In 1983, there was another short-lived restoration effort by four other young men who planned to live in the house. The men were a bit startled by the island's wildlife. One of them told the Gloucester Daily Times, "The first time my brother came out he yelled, 'Hey, look at the seal on the rock!' Not until I saw the tail did I know it was a rat." At the time there were two feet of rat and seagull droppings on the floor of the house.

The keeper's house in the fall of 2000

The house has continued to deteriorate. MAS' primary purpose is to maintain Straitsmouth Island as a bird sanctuary. For the few people that visit Straitmouth, landing is very difficult as the boat ramp was removed years ago. In the summer of 2001, there was talk in Rockport of possible restoration, but more recent word is that there are no longer any such plans.

The keeper's house photographed from a boat in July 2004

The "Perfect Storm" of October 1991 destroyed the old entryway to the tower, and the Coast Guard built a smaller entryway during the following year. The solar-powered light and an automated fog signal remain active aids to navigation. 

In July 2009, it was announced that ownership of the lighthouse would be conveyed to the Thacher Island Association, in accordance with the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000.

Straitsmouth Island Light can be seen from the breakwater at the end of Bearskin Neck in Rockport, and from some of the scenic cruises in the area.

The view from Bearskin Neck

Keepers: Benjamin Andrews (1835-1841); John Davis (1841-?); Henry F. Low (c. 1850); Nehemiah Knowlton (18?? - was keeper for 14 years)