Nobska Lighthouse

Originally called Nobsque Light, the now known Nobska Light, sits on the southwestern tip of Cape Cod. It’s between Buzzards Bay, Nantucket Sound, and Vineyard Sound in a place called Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Not far from the lighthouse is a small beach called Nobska Light Beach, where the blue-green water rolls onto the shore and endlessly stretches out to sea.

Nobska Lighthouse was constructed in 1829 and was the first light on Nobska Point. In 1888 the lighthouse followed technological trends and was upgraded to a fourth-order Fresnel Lens. This lens still sits in the lightroom of the lighthouse today and can be seen while touring the tower.

To see more photos of Nobska Lighthouse, please visit my website here.

To see more photos, please visit my website here.

Nauset Lighthouse

Overlooking Nauset Light Beach, sits Nauset Lighthouse. This is the same area where The Three Sisters Lighthouses presided before becoming an unnecessary trio along the coast.

Nauset Lighthouse was erected in 1923 and sits on what is now the Cape Cod National Seashore. However, the tower is much older than its 1923 construction year. The tower that watches over the sea and is the Nauset Light of today is actually one of the 1877 towers of the twin lights at Chatham.

If you’d like to read about The Three Sisters Lighthouses, you may do so by going here.

To see more photos of Nauset Lighthouse, please visit my website here.

To see more photos, please visit my website, here.

The Three Sisters Lighthouses

This trio of little lighthouses was originally built in 1837 (and illuminated two years later in 1839), when a light became necessary halfway between Highland Lighthouse and the twin towers at Chatham. (There are no longer two towers at Chatham, but I’ll cover that in another post.) Unfortunately, the three original brick structures were casualties of erosion and fell into the sea in 1890. (It’s said the brick foundations can still be seen on the beach at low tide, even today.) Two years later the three lighthouses were replaced with wooden towers on brick foundations.

The Three Sisters have a history of keeping ships and mariners safe, of falling down and being rebuilt, and of being sold off when no longer needed and then reunited. These lighthouses no longer guard the coast, but have been bought back and reunited as the trio they began as so long ago. The Three Sisters Lighthouses can be seen in a small, wooded area on Cable Road in Eastham, MA, just a short walk from Nauset Lighthouse.

As for their name – The Three Sisters Lighthouses – there is no confirmed story as to how they received their named, but there are two lores. Some say the Keeper Henry Y. Hatch (1851 – 1853) had three daughters. Other say the name came from the fact that the towers resembled three demure women in white dresses and black hats.

To see more photos of The Three Sisters Lighthouses, please visit my website here.

To see more photos, please visit my website here.

Highland Lighthouse

Sitting on the coast of North Truro, MA, on what is now the Cape Cod National Seashore, is Highland Lighthouse. As the oldest (and tallest) lighthouse on the Cape, Highland Lighthouse has a long and rich history.

Originally built in 1797, it was the first lighthouse to be erected on Cape Code and was nothing more than a wooden structure (which was authorized by George Washington). The tower was later replaced in 1831 and again in 1857. The 1857 tower is the structure that still proudly stands today.

To see more photos of Highland Lighthouse, please visit my website here.

To see more photos, please visit my website here.