Three Sisters of Nauset Lighthouses, Eastham, Massachusetts
THREE SISTERS LIGHTS (THREE TOWERS)
Location: RELOCATED TO LOCATION CLOSE TO NAUSET LIGHT BEACH
Station Established: 1838
Year Current/Last Tower(s) First Lit: 1892
Operational? NO
Automated? NO
Deactivated: 1923
Foundation Materials: BRICK/ORIG. WOOD SLATS
Construction Materials: WOOD
Tower Shape: CONICAL
Markings/Pattern: WHITE W/BLACK LANTERN
Relationship to Other Structure: SEPARATE
Original Lens: FOURTH ORDER, FRESNEL 1870
Historical Information:
* 1833 – Boston Marine Society formed a committee to study the need for a lighthouse on the outer portion of Cape Cod. The report recommended building three towers between Highland (Cape Cod Truro) and Chatham (two towers). Congress allocated $10,000 for the project.
* 1837 – Three brick towers (known as the Three Sisters) were built on five acres of land which had been purchased for $150.00.
* 1858 – A 6th order Fresnel lens was installed.
* 1868 – Extensive repairs were made to the Keeper’s house – including ten new window frames, a chimney extension and a new sill. More repairs were made the following year.
* 1873 – The 6th order lens was replaced with a 4th order lens.
* 1892 – The three brick towers had deteriorated and were rebuilt as three wooden towers.
* 1893 – British bark Jason ran aground in a snowstorm near the lighthouses.
* 1895 – Storm porches were added to the three towers.
* 1911 – The center tower was moved back from the edge of the eroding cliff.
* 1918 – The two end towers were sold for the sum of $3.50. They became part of a summer cottage.
* 1923 – The one remaining wooden tower was replaced by one of the two cast iron towers at Chatham. The wooden tower was then sold and used as part of another summer cottage.
* 1965 – The NPS bought back the two towers that had been sold in 1918.
* c. 1975 – NPS bought back the remaining tower
* 1983 – The additions that had been added to the third tower, by the previous owner, were removed.
* 1990 – NPS moved all three of the wooden towers to their current position in Eastham, MA, about 1,800 feet from the Nauset Lighthouse.
Keepers:
* Michael Collins (1838 - c. 1843, 1861 - 1866)
* Henry Horton (c. 1843)
* B. H. A. Collins (1843 - 1849, 1853 - 1861)
* Joshua Crosby (1849 - 1851)
* Henry Y. Hatch (1851 - 1853)
* Peter Higgins (1866 - 1869)
* George W. Eldredge (assistant 1867)
* John Dunn (assistant 1867)
* Samuel Snow (assistant 1867 - 1868)
* John J. Ryder (assistant 1868 - 1870)
* Nathan A. Gill (Sr.?) (1869 - 1883)
* Herman Gill (assistant 1870 and 1873)
* Nathan A. Gill (Jr.?) (assistant 1873 - 1879)
* Alfred Gill (assistant 1879 - ?)
* Stephen Lewis (1883 - 1914)
* Thomas J. Kelley (1914 - 1918)
* James Yates (1918 - 1919)
* George I. Herbolt (1919 - 1932)
Researched and written by Marie Vincent, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.