Chatham Light

Chatham Light

Chatham Lighthouse and Coast Guard Station
Location	Chatham, Massachusetts
Coordinates	41°40′16.704″N 69°57′.554″W / 41.67130667°N 69.95015389°WCoordinates: 41°40′16.704″N 69°57′.554″W / 41.67130667°N 69.95015389°W
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	80 feet (24 m)
Original lens	4th order Fresnel lens
Current lens	Carlisle & Finch DCB-224
Range	24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi)
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
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Location	Main St., Chatham, Massachusetts
Area	2 acres (0.81 ha)
Built	1877
Part of	Old Village Historic District (#01001406)
MPS	Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR
NRHP Reference #	87001501 [4]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 15, 1987
Designated CP	December 17, 2001

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-foot (12 m) 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-foot (12 m) 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 (19 km) north to become Nauset Light
• 1939 Chatham Light, which had been kerosene fueled since 1882, was electrified
• 1969 Fresnel lens was replaced with a Carlisle & Finch DCB-224 rotating light generating over 2.8 million candlepower
• 1969 Lantern replaced
• 1982 Automated.

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]

In popular culture

The Chatham Lighthouse is featured in the film “The Finest Hour.” The film chronicles the US Coast Guard’s rescue of the SS Pendleton in 1952 off the coast of Chatham. All four of the Coast Guard crew received the Coast Guard’s Gold Lifesaving Medal.^[6]

Gallery

• 

  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

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Barnstable County, Massachusetts

References

1. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
2. Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2009. p. 7.
3. Rowlett, Russ (2009-09-07). "Lighthouses of the United States: Southeast Massachusetts". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
4. National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
5. "USCG Motor Lifeboat Station Chatham". US Coast Guard.
6. Gillespie, Craig (29 January 2016). "The Finest Hours (2016)". The Finest Hours (2016) - Plot Summary. Walt Disney Studios Publicity. Retrieved 10 September 2016.