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Managing Organization:
Highland Museum and Lighthouse, Inc.
Telephone: 508-487-1121
Website: http://trurohistorical.org
Contact Address Information:
c/o Truro Historical Society, P.O. Box 486
Truro
Massachusetts, 02666, United States
Notes:
Highland (Cape Cod) Light was the first lighthouse on Cape Cod. In 1996 the lighthouse was moved 450 feet back from the edge of the eroding cliff. The lighthouse is on the Cape Cod National Seashore and is operated by Highland Museum and Lighthouse, Inc., under a National Park Service contract. The active light is still maintained by the Coast Guard.
Tower Height: 66
Height of Focal Plane: 183
Characteristic and Range: Flashing white every five seconds.
Description of Tower: Conical white brick tower with black cast iron lantern.
This light is operational
Other Buildings?
1857 1.5 story wood keeper's house, generator shed.
Earlier Towers?
1797: 45-foot wooden tower; 1831: brick tower.
Date Established: 1797
Date Present Tower Built: 1857
Tower Moved?
yes (1996)
Date Automated: 1987
Optics: 1797: 24 lamps and reflectors; 1811: new Winslow Lewis patent lamps and reflectors; 1857: First order Fresnel lens; 1901: New first order Fresnel lens; c. early 1950s: Rotating aerobeacons; 1998: VRB-25.
Fog Signal: 1873: First class Daboll fog trumpet.
Current Use: Active aid to navigation, gift shop in keeper's house.
Open To Public? yes
Museum?
The keeper's house now houses a gift shop with lighthouse-related items. Near the lighthouse station is the Highland House Museum of the Truro Historical Society. The museum has exhibits on the Pamet Indians native to the area, shipwreck mementos, early fishing and whaling gear and more. The museum is open June 1 to September 30 every day from 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $3 per person; children under 12 are free. The lighthouse is open to the public from May 1 through October. There are guided tours of the lighthouse tower every day from 10 am to 5 pm. During summer the lighthouse is open for tours until sunset. Children under 51 inches tall are not allowed to climb the tower. Tickets are $3 per person. You can buy a combination ticket for the museum and lighthouse for $5. There is also an observation deck (free) near the edge of the 120-foot cliff.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Keepers: Isaac Small (1797-1812); Constant Hopkins (1812-1817); John Grocier (1817-?); Enoch Hamilton (1850-?); Horace Hughes (c. 1850s); James Small (c. 1840s); Thomas Kenney (asst., c. 1850s); Fred W. Tibbetts (asst., then keeper, 1912-1938); William A. Joseph (1923-1947); Charles F. Ellis (c. 1940s)
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Keepers Picks
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