Bird Island Light

Bird Island Light is a historic lighthouse at the entrance to Sippican Harbor in Marion, Massachusetts. Built in 1819, its tower is a well-preserved example of an early 19th-century masonry lighthouse. The tower and the island on which it stands were added to the National Register of Historic Places as Bird Island Light on September 28, 1987.[3]

Bird Island Light
LocationSippican Harbor, Marion, Massachusetts
Coordinates41°40′9.5″N 70°43′2.4″W
Year first constructed1819
Year first lit1819
Automated1997
Deactivated1933-1997
FoundationSurface rock
ConstructionRubble stone
Tower shapeConical
Markings / patternWhite
Tower height9.5 metre 
Focal height37 feet (11 m)
Original lensFourth order Fresnel lens
CharacteristicFl W 6s
Fog signalOriginal, pyramidal bell tower, none now
ARLHS numberUSA-057
USCG number1-17105[1][2]
Heritageplace listed on the National Register of Historic Places 
Bird Island Light
Area3 acres (1.2 ha)
Built1819
MPSLighthouses of Massachusetts TR
NRHP reference No.87002030 [3]
Added to NRHPSeptember 28, 1987

Description and history

Sippican Harbor is a deep inlet off Buzzards Bay on the south coast of Massachusetts, which is bracketed by Charles Neck Point on the west and Butler Point on the east, both part of the town of Marion. About 0.5 miles (0.80 km) south of Butler Point lies Bird Island, a 3-acre (1.2 ha) point of land that mostly serves as a bird nesting site. The Bird Island lighthouse stands near the island's center. It is a circular masonry structure about 25 feet (7.6 m), with its light at 37 feet (11 m) above sea level. The tower is topped by a cast iron lantern house, with an outside railing and conical roof with ventilator.[4]

The tower was built when the light was first established in 1819, and was accompanied by an attached stone keeper's dwelling. Three months after it was first lit, with William Moore as the keeper, it was badly damaged by a storm. It was again severely damaged on September 8, 1869 and, again, repaired. It was deactivated by the USCG in 1933. All of the buildings except the tower were destroyed in the New England Hurricane of 1938. In 1940 the island passed into private hands and was acquired by the Town of Marion in 1966.[2] The light was briefly lit in 1976 after undergoing restoration by the local historical society.[4] The Bird Island Preservation Society was formed in 1994 and on July 4, 1997, the light was relit as a private aid to navigation.[2]

The island, but not the tower, is open to visitors except during the May through August nesting season of the endangered roseate tern.[1][5]

See also

References
  1. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-09-05. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
  2. United States Coast Guard (2009). Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. p. 154.
  3. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  4. "NRHP nomination for Bird Island Light". National Archive. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  5. Rowlett, Russ (2009-08-06). "Lighthouses of the United States: Northern Massachusetts". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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