Bird Island Light

Bird Island Light
Location Sippican Harbor, Marion, Massachusetts
Coordinates 41°40′9.5″N 70°43′2.4″W / 41.669306°N 70.717333°W / 41.669306; -70.717333Coordinates: 41°40′9.5″N 70°43′2.4″W / 41.669306°N 70.717333°W / 41.669306; -70.717333
Year first constructed 1819
Year first lit 1819
Automated 1997
Deactivated 1933-1997
Foundation Surface rock
Construction Rubble stone
Tower shape Conical
Markings / pattern White
Focal height 37 feet (11 m)
Original lens Fourth order Fresnel lens
Characteristic Fl W 6s
Fog signal Original, pyramidal bell tower, none now
ARLHS number USA-057
USCG number

1-17105[1][2]

Bird Island Light
Area 3 acres (1.2 ha)
Built 1819
MPS Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR
NRHP Reference #

87002030

[3]
Added to NRHP September 28, 1987

Bird Island Light is a historic lighthouse at the entrance to Sippican Harbor, Marion, Massachusetts.

The current 37 feet (11 m)[4] tower was built when the light was first established in 1819. Three months after it was first lit, with William Moore as the keeper, it was badly damaged by a storm. It was again severely damaged on September 8, 1869 and, again, repaired. It was deactivated by the USCG in 1933. All of the buildings except the tower were destroyed in the hurricane of 1938. In 1940 the island passed into private hands and was acquired by the Town of Marion in 1966. The light was briefly lit in 1976. The Bird Island Preservation Society was formed in 1994 and on July 4, 1997, the light was relit as a Private Aid to Navigation.[2]

The island, but not the tower, is open to visitors except during the May through August nesting season of the endangered roseate tern.[1][4]

The island was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Bird Island Light on September 28, 1987.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-09-05.
  2. 1 2 United States Coast Guard (2009). Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. p. 154.
  3. 1 2 National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  4. 1 2 Rowlett, Russ (2009-08-06). "Lighthouses of the United States: Northern Massachusetts". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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