Hospital Point Range Front Light

Hospital Point Range Front Light

US Coast Guard photo
Location Beverly, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°32′47.4″N 70°51′21.4″W / 42.546500°N 70.855944°W / 42.546500; -70.855944Coordinates: 42°32′47.4″N 70°51′21.4″W / 42.546500°N 70.855944°W / 42.546500; -70.855944
Year first constructed 1871
Year first lit 1872
Automated 1947
Foundation Granite
Construction Brick
Tower shape Square pyramidal tower with attached house
Markings / pattern White, black lantern
Focal height 70 feet (21 m)
Original lens Third order Fresnel lens
Characteristic F W
Fog signal none
USCG number

1-10000[1][2]

Hospital Point Light Station
Built 1871
Architect Unknown
MPS Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR
NRHP Reference # 87002031[3]
Added to NRHP September 28, 1987

Hospital Point Range Front Light is a historic lighthouse at the end of Bayview Avenue in Beverly, Massachusetts. It forms the front half of a range which guides vessels toward Salem Harbor. The tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Hospital Point Light Station on September 28, 1987.

Established in 1871, the beacon marks the deep water channel to Beverly, Salem and Marblehead[4] Two bronze plaques contain historical information about the site. One plaque honors Beverly men who manned a fort at the site during the Revolutionary War, and the second describes the lighthouse and a smallpox hospital that was previously located on the site. The lighthouse was first lit in 1872 and was automated in 1947.[5] The Fresnel lens was replaced in 1976, and an acrylic optic was installed in 1981.[6]

The square pyramidal light tower is 45 feet (14 m) tall, made of white painted brick and is topped with a 10-sided lantern.[7] There are five sash windows in the tower, with the doorway facing the keeper's house. A small brick oil house stands nearby. The keeper's house is an example of Queen Anne style architecture, although its historic detailing are obscured by a major addition to the building in 1968.[6]

Hospital Point Light is owned and operated as a navigation aid by the United States Coast Guard. The light is paired with a second light installed in the steeple of Beverly's First Baptist Church in 1927.[8] Vessels are able to use the two lights to align themselves with the middle of the channel, avoiding the rocky shores.

Tours are offered to the public each August for Beverly Homecoming celebrations and include 40 winding stairs and a ladder to the top of the light.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-09-02.
  2. ↑ United States Coast Guard (2009). Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. p. 82.
  3. ↑ National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  4. ↑ Wright, John Hardy. Images of American: Beverly. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2000. p. 105
  5. ↑ United States Coast Guard. Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts. online.
  6. 1 2 "MACRIS inventory record for Hospital Point Range Front Light". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
  7. ↑ National Park Service. Maritime History of Massachusetts. online
  8. 1 2 Leighton, Paul. (2007, July 28.) Seeing the light: tours offer rare views from Hospital Point. Salem News.
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