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Location | Little Brewster Island Boston, Massachusetts |
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Coordinates | 42°19′41″N 70°53′24″W / 42.32794°N 70.8901°W |
Tower | |
Constructed | 1716 |
Foundation | Granite Ledge |
Construction | Masonry, Rubble Stone with brick lining |
Automated | 1998 |
Height | 89 feet (27 m) |
Shape | Conical |
Markings | White with five steel bands and black trim |
Heritage | National Historic Landmark, National Register of Historic Places listed place ![]() |
Fog signal | HORN: 1 every 30s |
Light | |
First lit | 1783 (current tower) |
Deactivated | 1776–1783 and during WWII. |
Focal height | 102 feet (31 m) |
Lens | Tallow candles (1716), 2nd order Fresnel lens (current) |
Intensity | 1,800,000 candlepower |
Range | 27 nautical miles (50 km; 31 mi) |
Characteristic | Flashing white every 10 seconds. |
Boston Light | |
Area | 3.5 acres (1.4 ha) |
MPS | Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR (AD) |
NRHP reference No. | 66000133[1][2] |
Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
Boston Light is a lighthouse located on Little Brewster Island in outer Boston Harbor, Massachusetts.[3][4] The first lighthouse to be built on the site dates back to 1716, and was the first lighthouse to be built in what is now the United States. The current lighthouse dates from 1783. It is the second oldest working lighthouse in the United States (after Sandy Hook Lighthouse in New Jersey) and is the only lighthouse to still be actively staffed by the United States Coast Guard despite its automation in 1998.[5] The structure was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.[6]
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