Chatham Light

Chatham Light

Chatham Lighthouse and Coast Guard Station
Location	Chatham, Massachusetts
Year first constructed	1808
Year first lit	1877 (current structure)
Automated	1982
Foundation	Concrete
Construction	Cast iron plate with brick lining
Tower shape	Conical
Markings / pattern	White with gray lantern
Focal height	80ft (24m)
Original lens	4th order Fresnel lens
Current lens	Carlisle & Finch DCB-224
Range	24nm
Characteristic	Fl (2) W 10s, lighted continuously
Fog signal	none
Admiralty number	J0394
ARLHS number	USA-158
USCG number	1-525 [1] [2] [3]
Chatham Light Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location:	Main St., Chatham, Massachusetts
Coordinates:	41°40′16.704″N 69°57′0.554″W / 41.67130667°N 69.95015389°W / 41.67130667; -69.95015389Coordinates: 41°40′16.704″N 69°57′0.554″W / 41.67130667°N 69.95015389°W / 41.67130667; -69.95015389
Area:	2 acres (0.81 ha)
Built:	1877
Governing body:	US Coast Guard
MPS:	Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR
NRHP Reference#:	87001501 [4]
Added to NRHP:	June 15, 1987

Chatham Lighthouse, known as Twin Lights prior to 1923, is a lighthouse in Chatham, Massachusetts, near the "elbow" of Cape Cod.

The station was established in 1808, the second light on Cape Cod. To distinguish it from Highland Light, the first Cape Cod light, and to act as a range, twin octagonal 40 ft (12m) wooden towers were built. They were on skids so that they could be moved to keep them in line with the entrance channel as it shifted. Samuel Nye was appointed as the first Keeper of the Chatham Lights by President Jefferson on October 7, 1808.

• 1841 The wood octagons were replaced with 40 ft (12m) brick towers
• 1857 Fourth order Fresnel lens installed.
• 1879 Current structures, of brick lined cast iron, were built.
• 1923 Northern tower of the pair was moved roughly 12 miles north to become Nauset Light.
• 1939 Chatham Light, which had been kerosene fueled since 1882, became electric.
• 1969 Fresnel lens was replaced with a Carlisle & Finch DCB-224 rotating light generating over 2.8 million candlepower.
• 1969 Lantern replaced
• 1982 Automated, now one of the few lights that operates 24 hours a day.

Today, the former keeper's house is an active U.S. Coast Guard station, and on-duty personnel living quarters. Search and Rescue, maritime law enforcement, and Homeland Security missions are carried out here. Flotilla 11-01 of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary operates from this station.^[5]

Chatham Light was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Chatham Light Station on June 15, 1987, reference number 87001501.^[4]

The 1841 brick towers  The remaining 1877 tower with its original lantern. Note the LARC-V to the right.  The 1877 tower with the replacement (1969) lantern.

References

1. ^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHMA.asp. 
2. ^ (PDF) Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2009. p. 7. http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lightLists/LightList%20V1.pdf. 
3. ^ Rowlett, Russ (2009-09-07). "Lighthouses of the United States: Southeast Massachusetts". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/ma2.htm. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "USCG Motor Lifeboat Station Chatham". US Coast Guard. http://www.uscg.mil/d1/units/gruwh/stachatham.