Nantucket Range Lights

Nov. 5, 2019
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Nantucket Range Lights, rear of Brant Point Lighthouse, Nantucket, Massachusetts

NANTUCKET RANGE LIGHTS

Location:  On rising ground, about 1 mile in rear of Brant Point lighthouse, MA
Station Established:  1794
Year Current/Last Tower(s) First Lit:  1869
Operational:  no
Automated:  
Deactivated:  
Foundation Materials:  Sills on posts; of wood - set in ground.
Construction Materials:  wood
Tower Shape:  square base
Markings/Pattern: white
Height:  17’ 9”
Relationship to Other Structure:  separate
Original Lens: 21” reflector
Characteristic: fixed white
Fog Signal: none

Historical Information:

* Circa 1820s, lamp on keeper’s hut was used as the rear range light.
* Nantucket Beacon (Rear Range) formed range with Brant Point light (Front Range) to mark a safe passage into Nantucket Harbor. Rear Range light was repositioned several times as the channel shifted.
* Replaced by the 1908 Nantucket Harbor Range Lights.
Researched and written by Marie Vincent, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.