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Sankaty Looking Spiffy
Sankaty Head Light stands today as a lonely sentinel on the southeast shore of Nantucket, Massachusetts, without the rest of the buildings that once made up the important lighthouse station. The tower is fighting a battle against the receding coastline, with the help of extensive erosion control measures.
Sankaty Head Light was Massachusetts’ first lighthouse with a Fresnel lens and the first lighthouse anywhere in the United States with a Fresnel lens as part of its original equipment. Fishermen in the 19th century called the light “the blazing star.” The second order lens is on display today at the Nantucket Whaling Museum. A modern rotating optic operates today inside a modern aluminum lantern room; the original lantern was removed in 1970.
The lighthouse is now looking spiffy in its 151st year, thanks to a new coat of paint courtesy of the United States Coast Guard. A Coast Guard crew from the U.S Coast Guard Cutter Penobscot Bay, home-ported in Bayonne, New Jersey, arrived on to paint the tower at the end of September. BMC Deane Smith was in charge of the painting, with eight crew members. Lieutenant Andy Raiha is the Commanding Officer of the Penobscot Bay.
The project was organized through Chief Sheila Lucey, Officer in Charge of Aids to Navigation Team Woods Hole, and Lieutenant Raiha, and funded by the First District Aids to Navigation and Mangement Branch. By using the cutter’s crew to paint the lighthouse, the crew of ANT Woods Hole can focus on other areas, such as working buoys and training. According to CWO Dave Waldrip, Lighthouse Manager for the First Coast Guard District, “It’s a win-win situation for everyone, with the end result being a great looking light.”
The painting was welcome duty for the crew before the start of the busy season for ice breaking on the Hudson River and other waterways. The Penobscot Bay also conducts aids to navigation maintenance projects, law enforcement and fisheries missions.
In 1991 concerned islanders formed Save Our Sankaty, a non-profit organization, to raise funds toward the tower’s move. Erosion control measures have been successful in recent years, delaying the inevitable move or extinction of the lighthouse. A move would now likely cost more than $1 million.
This story appeared in the November 2000 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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