On 14 September 1716, BOSTON LIGHT was lighted, becoming the first lighthouse in America. Located on Little Brewster Island in outer Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, the 75-foot (23 m) BOSTON LIGHT was taken over by British forces in 1774, who blew up the tower and completely destroyed the lighthouse when they abandoned Boston in 1776, during the American War of Independence. The current light was built in 1783, making it the second oldest working lighthouse in what is now the United States (after Sandy Hook Light in New Jersey). In 1856, the light tower was raised to its current height of 98 feet (30 m) and a 12-sided second-order Fresnel lens added, equipped with a 1,800,000 candlepower light visible for 27 nautical miles (50 km) and flashing white every 10 seconds. During World War II the light was extinguished as a security measure, but was again placed in operation 2 July 1945. BOSTON LIGHT was automated in 1998, but is still staffed by a resident civilian lightkeeper hired by the Coast Guard. Members of the local Coast Guard Auxiliary assist the keeper in giving interpretive tours to visitors.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 11:19:35 +0000
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