Plymouth Light, also known as Gurnet Light, is a historic

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

located on Gurnet Point at the entrance to

Plymouth Bay Plymouth Bay is a small, well-protected bay of the Atlantic Ocean on the western shore of larger Cape Cod Bay along the coastline of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Plymouth Bay retains historical significance for the landing at Plymouth Rock ...

in the town of

Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth ( ; historically also spelled as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in and the county seat of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklor ...

. The light is accessible only by passing through the town of

Duxbury Duxbury (alternative older spelling: "Duxborough") is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb located on the South Shore (Massachusetts), South Shore approximately to the southeast of Boston, the population was 16,090 ...

, which lies to the north. The tower is located inside the earthworks of Fort Andrew, which existed in the Civil War, War of 1812, and Revolutionary War. The original lighthouse was built in 1768, burned down and rebuilt in 1801, when the single light became a pair, and rebuilt again in 1842, again as a pair. The light gradually lost importance as Plymouth Harbor silted up and lost most of its traffic. Then, when the

Cape Cod Canal The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway in Massachusetts connecting Cape Cod Bay in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south, and is part of the Intracoastal Waterway, Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The approximately canal traverses the nec ...

opened in 1914, there was a significant increase in vessel traffic past the light. The northeast tower was torn down and the remaining tower upgraded from a sixth order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens (optics), lens which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional lens by dividing the lens into a set of concentric annular sections. The simpler Dioptrics, d ...

to one of the fourth order. The fourth order lens is now on display at the Lifesaving Museum in

Hull, Massachusetts Hull is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, located on a peninsula at the southern edge of Boston Harbor. Its population was 10,072 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Hull is the smallest town by land area in P ...

. The light is the oldest wooden lighthouse in the United States. The light was relocated approximately to the north in December 1998 because of

beach erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward r ...

; this placed it within the earthworks of Fort Andrew. The property and the

Duxbury Pier Light Duxbury Pier lighthouse also called Duxbury Light (nicknamed the "Bug Light") is a lighthouse located in Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts. Duxbury Pier Light was built in 1871 on the north side of the main channel in Plymouth Harbor to mark the da ...

, in open water to the SW are both managed by Project Gurnet and Bug Lights, Inc. The site is also known for being staffed by America's first female lighthouse keeper. The actual light is above

Mean High Water A chart datum is the water level, water surface serving as origin (mathematics), origin (or coordinate surface) of depth (coordinate), depths displayed on a nautical chart and for reporting and predicting tide heights. A chart datum is generally ...

. Its white light is visible for ; its red sector, which covers Mary Ann Rocks, is visible . Plymouth Light was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as Plymouth Light Station on March 8, 1977.

References

External links

* {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1768 Lighthouses completed in 1801 Lighthouses completed in 1842 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Plymouth, Massachusetts Historic American Engineering Record in Massachusetts Lighthouses in Plymouth County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Plymouth County, Massachusetts 1768 establishments in the Province of Massachusetts Bay

See also

References

External links