Edgartown Harbor Lighthouse, Edgartown Harbor, Massachusetts
EDGARTOWN HARBOR LIGHT
CHAPPAQUIDDICK ISLAND/EDGARTOWN HARBOR
Station Established: 1828
Year Current/Last Tower(s) First Lit: 1875
Operational? YES
Automated? YES 1939
Deactivated: n/a
Foundation Materials: GRANITE BLOCKS W/FILL
Construction Materials: CAST IRON
Tower Shape: CONICAL
Markings/Pattern: WHITE W/BLACK LANTERN
Relationship to Other Structure: SEPARATE
Original Lens: FOURTH ORDER, FRESNEL 1856
Historical Information:
* 1828 – Congress appropriated $5500 to build the lighthouse.
* 1830 – Congress approved an additional $2500 for a causeway. In December, 40’ of the walkway was carried away by ice.
* 1836 – The lighthouse was damaged by a bad storm.
* 1850 – Congress appropriated $5,000 for a breakwater with a walkway on top.
* 1856 – The keeper’s house was damaged by fire.
* 1860’s – Multiple repairs and renovations were done, including: rooms re-papered, 2 iron smokestacks raised, sills of the keeper’s house were replaced and the house was whitewashed, the walkway was repaired.
* 1890’s – Fuel and storehouse were built, new fence was built around the pier, new well was dug and an oil house was built.
* 1939 – The Coast Guard demolished the existing buildings and the Essex lighthouse in Ipswich was dismantled, shipped by barge to Edgartown and re-assembled.
* 1985 – Lighthouse was leased to Vineyard Environmental Research Institute.
* 1990 – Plastic lens installed and lighthouse converted to solar power.
* 1994 – Lease transferred to Martha’s Vineyard Historical Society.
Keepers:
* Jeremiah Pease (1828 – 1841, 1843 – 1849)
* Sylvanus Crocker (1841 – 1843, 1849-1853)
* William Vinson (1853 – 1855)
* James Blankenship (1855 – 1861)
* William Vincent (1861 – 1866)
* Zolmond Steward (1866 – 1870)
* Benjamin Huxford (1870 – 1919)
* Joseph H. Barrus (1919 – 1931)
* Henry L. Thomas (1931 – 1938)
* Fred Vidler (1938)
Researched and written by Marie Vincent, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.