Tarpaulin Cove Light
Oct. 22, 2019
Tarpaulin Cove Light, Naushon Island, Gosnold, Massachusetts
Tarpaulin Cove Light, Naushon Island, Gosnold, Massachusetts
Tarpaulin Cove Light, Naushon Island, Gosnold, Massachusetts
Originially built in 1818, current tower built in 1891.
TARPAULIN COVE LIGHT
Location: TARPAULIN COVE ON NAUSHON ISLAND, ELIZABETH ISLANDS, MASSACHUSETTS
Station Established: 1759
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1891
Operational? YES
Automated? 1941
Deactivated: N/A
Foundation Materials: NATURAL/EMPLACED/CONCRETE
Construction Materials: BRICK
Tower Shape: CYLINDRICAL ATTACHED TO WORKROOM
Markings/Pattern: WHITE
Relationship to Other Structure: SEPERATE
Original Lens: FIFTH ORDER FRESNEL, 1856
Historical Information:
* In 1759 Zaccheus Lumbert, who ran the local tavern, established a light on Naushon Island for the “public good of the Whalemen and Coasters”. For nearly six decades the light was maintained.
* The government made appropriations for an official light at Tarpaulin Cove in 1807. It would be
another decade before any action was taken to actually build the light.
* In 1818 a rubblestone tower with a “bird cage” style lantern room was built and lit. Some reports list the tower’s height at 38 feet but others say 27feet. A fifth order Fresnel lens was installed in 1856.
* By 1891 the lighthouse needed to be replaced. A 28-foot brick tower was built with a conventional cast iron lantern. A fourth order Fresnel lens was installed in the new tower. At the same time, a 1,200 pound fog bell with striking machinery was installed. The bell tower was destroyed in a hurricane in 1938.
* The light was automated in 1941. By 1962 the Keeper’s house fell into such disrepair it was torn down. The Fresnel lens was replaced by a modern optic.
* The light is managed by the Cuttyhunk Historical Society. It remains an active aid to navigation.
Researched and written by Melissa Buckler, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.