Lighthouse Explorer Database ... Gay Head Light

03/23/05 4:20 PM

1-800-758-1444

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Name: Gay Head Light

Also known as: Aquinnah Light

Nearest Town or City:
Aquinnah (Gay Head), Massachusetts, United States

Location: Aquinnah (Gay Head) Cliffs, western end of Martha's Vineyard, entrance to Vineyard Sound.

Click to enlarge: 62Kb   
Photo: Jeremy D'Entremont

Managing Organization:
Martha's Vineyard Historical Society

Telephone: 508-627-4441

Website: http://www.marthasvineyardhistory.org
Email:

Contact Address Information:
Box 827
Edgartown
Massachusetts, 02539, United States

Notes:
Gay Head Light was leased by the Coast Guard to the Vineyard Environmental Research Institute in 1985; the license was transferred to the Martha's Vineyard Historical Society in 1994. All the buildings at the station except the lighthouse tower were destroyed by the Coast Guard.

Tower Height: 51

Height of Focal Plane: 170

Characteristic and Range: Alternating red and white flash every 15 seconds.

Description of Tower: Conical brick tower (unpainted) with black cast iron lantern.

This light is operational

Earlier Towers?
1799: Octagonal tower.

Date Established: 1799

Date Present Tower Built: 1856

Date Automated: 1960

Optics: c. 1810: 10 lamps and reflectors; 1856: First order Fresnel lens (removed 1952); now DCB-224.

Current Use: Active aid to navigation.

Open To Public? At times.

Museum?
The lighthouse is open to the public from mid-June to August, Friday through Sunday, from one hour before to 1/2 hour after sunset. A small donation is requested. Call (508) 627-4441 to confirm days and times.

Directions:
Martha's Vineyard is accessible by car/passenger ferry from Hyannis, Falmouth, Woods Hole and New Bedford. Call the Martha's Vineyard Chamber of Commerce at (508) 693-0085 for ferry information. The Gay Head cliffs and lighthouse are at the western tip of the island. Sightseeing tours of Martha's Vineyard are available from Island Transport, Inc.; call (508) 627-8687. All tours stop at Gay Head. There is a cluster of shops and restaurants near the cliffs, as well as a lookout offering a panoramic view of the cliffs and lighthouse.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Keepers: Ebenezer Skiff (1799-1828); Ellis Skiff (1828-1845); Samuel Flanders (1845-1849 and 1853-1861); Henry Robinson (1849-1853); Ichabod Norton Luce (1861-1864); Calvin C. Adams (1864-1869); Horatio N. T. Pease (1869-1890); Calvin C. Adams (Jr.?) (assistant c. 1880); Edward P. Lowe (1891-1892); Crosby L. Crocker (1892-1920); Charles W. Vanderhoop (1920-1933); James E. Dolby (1933-1937); Frank A Grieder (1937-1948); Joseph Hindley (1948-1956)