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![[photo]](buildings/cha1.jpg "[photo]")
Chatham Light Station
Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont, www.lighthouse.cc |
First established in 1808, Chatham Light Station is located on the west side of Chatham Harbor on a bluff overlooking the harbor inlet and Nauset Beach sand bar. It is the "elbow" of Cape Cod, which divides Nantucket Sound from the Atlantic Ocean. The original octagonal, wooden twin towers stood 70 feet apart and were 40 feet tall. Constructed 228 feet back from the eroding bluff, a second set of 40-foot tall brick towers replaced the original twin towers in 1841. These new towers received fourth-order Fresnel lenses in 1857. A tremendous storm hit Cape Cod in November 1870 causing extensive erosion. By 1877, the light towers stood only 48 feet from the bluff's edge. On December 15, 1879, the old south tower tumbled to the beach below, and the keeper's house and remaining north tower succumbed 15 months later.
![[photo]](buildings/nau2.jpg "[photo]")
Historic postcard of Chatham Light Station in 1905, before one of the towers was moved to Eastham to serve as Nauset Light
Courtesy of Division of Industry, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution |
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In 1877, the Lighthouse Board had the foresight to construct a new light station further inland to replace the 1841 station. The Fresnel lenses were removed from the second set of towers and installed atop the new, 48-foot, tall cast-iron, twin towers. Other station buildings included a one-and-one-half-story, duplex keeper's dwelling and a brick oil house. The north light tower was moved to the Nauset Beach Light Station in 1923, but the concrete foundation remains today. A more powerful optic was installed in the south tower increasing the intensity of the light. The south tower is still standing and continues to operate as an active aid to navigation. An enclosed entryway provides access to the tower. The keeper's dwelling, which is currently used for U.S. Coast Guard housing, and the oil house also remain at the station.
Chatham Light Station is located on Shore Rd. at the eastern end of Main St. in Chatham. Owned and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard, it is an active aid to navigation and the keeper's quarters is presently used as Coast Guard housing. The lighthouse is generally not open to the public. However, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 11-1, in Chatham offers a series of open houses from May to October. For further information, visit the Flotilla's website.
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