(Redirected from Chatham Lighthouse)
'Chatham' Lighthouse is a lighthouse in
Chatham, Massachusetts, near the "elbow" of
Cape Cod. In 1808 the first set of twin lights were constructed on the bluff named James' Head to act as a set of range lights for the shifting shoals of the Chatham Harbor entrance. Samuel Nye was appointed as the first Keeper of the Chatham Lights by then-President
Thomas Jefferson on October 7, 1808. The "twins" were replaced twice, first in 1841, and again in 1879. In 1923, the northernmost twin light was moved roughly 12 miles north to Nauset Beach in Eastham, Massachusetts. Sixteen years later, in 1939, the Chatham lighthouse's light source, fueled by kerosene since 1882, became electric. The last major structural change to the light occurred in 1969 when its lens was replaced with a rotating lightsource generating over 2.8 million candlepower and said to be visible out to 25 miles at sea. Chatham light became automated in 1982 and operates during the daytime as well as at night. Today, the former keeper's house is an active U.S. Coast Guard station,and on-duty personnel living quarters. Search and Rescue, maritime law enforcement, and Homeland Security missions are carried out here. Flotilla 11-01 of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary operates from this station
External links
★
The Chatham Lighthouse
★
Chatham Lighthouse History