Lighthouse Explorer Database ... Baker's Island ...

02/14/05 4:53 AM

1-800-758-1444

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Name: Baker's Island Light

Nearest Town or City:
Salem, Massachusetts, United States

Location: Approach to Salem Harbor, about five miles from Salem.

Click to enlarge: 37Kb   
Photo: Jeremy D'Entremont

Managing Organization:
Baker's Island Association

Notes:
The 1798 twin lights at Baker's Island were among the first twin lights in the U.S. New towers were built in 1820. They were known as the "Ma and Pa" or "Mr. and Mrs." lighthouses. The surviving tower was the taller of the two; the shorter tower was discontinued and demolished in 1926. The island is managed by the Baker's Island Association and is not open to the general public.

Tower Height: 59

Height of Focal Plane: 111

Characteristic and Range: Alternating white and red flashes every 20 seconds. White visible for 16 nautical miles, red for 14.

Description of Tower: White conical granite tower with black cast iron lantern.

This light is operational

Other Buildings?
1878 1.5 story wood keeper's house, 1907 brick fog signal building, second keeper's dwelling, oil house.

Earlier Towers?
1791: day marker; 1798: Two towers on roof of keeper's dwelling, 40 feet apart; 1820: two stone towers (taller tower survives).

Date Established: 1798

Date Present Tower Built: 1820

Date Automated: 1972

Optics: 1855: Fourth order Fresnel lens; now 190 mm, solar powered. Fresnel lens is now at the Shore Village Museum, 104 Limerock Street, Rockland, ME 04841, phone (207) 594-0311.

Fog Signal: c. 1870s: Fog bell and striking mechanism in tower; 1907: Air siren; 1959: Air horn; now automated horn with one three-second blast every 30 seconds..

Current Use: Active aid to navigation.

Open To Public? No.

Directions:
Baker's Island Light can be seen distantly from Salem Willows Park and Winter Island in Salem, from Marblehead Neck in Marblehead, and from Manchester-by-the-Sea's Boardman Avenue/Harbor Street loop. It can also be seen from lighthouse cruises offered by the Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands, call (781) 740-4290 for information. The Boston Harbor Explorers also offer occasional cruises passing the lighthouse; call (617) 479-1871. Sun Line Ltd., running cruises from Salem Willows Park, may offer views of Baker's Island Light on some cruises; call (978) 741-1900.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Keepers: George Chapman (1798-1815); Joseph Perkins (1815-1829); Ambrose Martin (1829-1843); Daniel Norwood (1843-?); Robert Peal (?); ? Russell (?-1861); Charles J. Williams (1861-1871); George Hobbs (1871-1874); Walter S. Rogers, assistant (1872-1874), then keeper (1874-1881, 1892-1911); James F. Lundgren, assistant, (1878-1881), then keeper (1881-1892); Eugene Terpeny (assistant, c.1893-1894), Elliott Hadley (1911-1918); Arthur L. Payne (1918-1943); Ernest Sampson, assistant (c. 1940); Benjamin E. Stewart (Coast Guard, c. 1940s); Paul Baptiste (Coast Guard, 1946-1951); Red Dawson (Coast Guard, ?); Bob Johnson (Coast Guard, ?); Clifford Willis (Coast Guard, ?); Leonard Mullen (Coast Guard, ?); Paul Guy (Coast Guard, ?); Paul Black (Coast Guard, ?); Andrew M. McLaughlin (Coast Guard Third Class Engineman, February 1956 - July 1956); Richard J. LaLonde (Coast Guard, First Class Engineman, c. 1956); Tex Blanchard (Coast Guard, ?); Allen C. Farrell (Coast Guard, ?); Gerald E. Ryan (Coast Guard, ?); Donald G. Trecartin (Coast Guard, 1962-?); Roger L. Lamascus (Coast Guard assistant, 1962-?); Randall Anderson (Coast Guard, c. 1967); John Krebs (Coast Guard, c. 1967).