|
![[photo]](buildings/lpt1a.jpg "[photo]")
Long Point Light Station
Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont, www.lighthouse.cc |
Established in 1827 to guide mariners into the bustling fishing port of Provincetown Harbor, the original Long Point Light Station consisted of a lantern room on top of a wooden keeper's house. The lantern was lit by a sixth-order Fresnel lens in 1856. By 1873, a lighthouse inspector's report noted the poor condition of the light station and expressed concern that a strong storm could carry it away. Shortly thereafter, the Lighthouse Board constructed the present 38-foot tall, square, brick lighthouse and a one-and-one-half-story keeper's dwelling in 1875. A larger, fifth-order Fresnel lens topped the square tower and a 1,200-pound fog bell was installed. The station received an oil house for properly storing flammable materials used for illumination in 1904.
![[photo]](buildings/lpt2b.jpg "[photo]")
Historic view of Long Point Light Station
Photo courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard |
|
Long Point Light underwent automation in 1952, and a modern optic replaced the Fresnel lens. The U.S. Coast Guard installed solar panels to power the light and fog signal equipment in 1982. The abandoned keeper's dwelling and fog signal building were demolished around the same time. Only the tower and the oil house remain today.
Long Point Light Station is located at the very tip of the "arm" of Cape Cod, on the sandy spit known as Long Point, at the mouth of Provincetown Harbor in Provincetown. Owned by the U.S. Coast Guard and maintained by the Cape Cod Chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, Long Point Light operates as an active aid to navigation. The grounds are open to the public, while the light tower is closed. Long Island Light is visible from MacMillan Wharf in Provincetown, but it is best visible by boat leaving Provincetown Harbor. For further information, contact the Cape Cod Chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation.
|
