Cleveland Ledge Light Station

[photo]
Cleveland Ledge Light Station
Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont, www.lighthouse.cc
Cleveland Ledge Light Station was the last commissioned lighthouse in New England and the only one in the region built by the U.S. Coast Guard. It is situated in Buzzards Bay approximately two miles from shore. Resting upon a rocky underwater obstacle known as Cleveland Ledge, the light station marks the east side of the southern entrance to the Cleveland Ledge Channel approaching the Cape Cod Canal. Cleveland Ledge is named for President Grover Cleveland, who frequently fished in the area. Massachusetts began building the 52-foot tall, cylindrical, concrete caisson upon which the lighthouse sits in 1940. Under the threat of war, the partially completed light station was transferred to the Federal government and finished under the direction of the U.S. Coast Guard in 1943.

[photo]
Cleveland Ledge Light Station
Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont, www.lighthouse.cc

The architectural style of the superstructure, Art Moderne, is also unique among New England lighthouses. Rising from the caisson is a reinforced concrete, two-story dwelling and integrated tower topped with a fourth-order lantern. The first level of the superstructure is circular in plan with eight faces, while the second level consists of a cross superimposed on the round first level. Windows at each of the four faces at the second level are directly above those at the first level. The circular tower rises 50 feet from the center of the square cross. The lighthouse keepers at Cleveland Ledge Light used the first and second levels as living and work quarters, and below the main deck was the engine room, fuel tanks and four water tanks with a capacity of 4,800 gallons of fresh water. The light was automated in 1978, and the station was permanently closed. The U.S. Coast Guard maintains the station, and it continues to serve as an active aid to navigation.

Cleveland Ledge Light Station is located in Buzzards Bay at the east side of the southern entrance to the channel approaching Cape Cod Canal. Owned by the U.S. Coast Guard, it is an active aid to navigation and is closed to the public. Cleveland Ledge Light is best viewed by boat, but it is also visible from shore.

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