Thanks to the United States Coast Guard, Bakers Island Lighthouse in Massachusetts has undergone a $250,000 restoration project.

The lighthouse was in pretty bad shape by the time the masons hired by the Coast Guard arrived to do repairs. Some of the foot square granite stones near the top of the lighthouse had worked their way out and fallen 45 feet to the ground. Repeated freezing and thawing had left huge cracks in the rough stucco surface.

When the masons began to work on the lighthouse, sand just poured out from around the stones. Mason contractor Martin Nally said he doubted the lighthouse would have stood another year.

Bakers Island Light, Massachusetts undergoing major restoration. Photo by Jonathon M. Whitmore courtesy of the Salem Evening Newspaper.