Three Sisters of Nauset

Three Sisters of Nauset (Twin Lights)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
This image shows all three lights; The Beacon is in the center.
Location	Eastham, Massachusetts
Coordinates	41°51′34″N 69°57′25″W / 41.85944°N 69.95694°W / 41.85944; -69.95694Coordinates: 41°51′34″N 69°57′25″W / 41.85944°N 69.95694°W / 41.85944; -69.95694
Built	1892
MPS	Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR
NRHP Reference #	87001502[1]
Added to NRHP	June 15, 1987

The Three Sisters of Nauset are a trio of historic lighthouses off Cable Road in Eastham, Massachusetts. One of them, The Beacon, remained in service longer than the others.

Construction

The first set of lighthouses were commissioned by Congress in 1837 and built for $10,000, to provide for a light halfway along the eastern coast of Cape Cod. Because there was one light (the Cape Cod Light) in Truro, and two lights (the Twin Lights) in Chatham, it was decided that there should be three lights to distinguish between the other lights. Built 150 feet (46 m) apart in a straight line along the crest of the cliffs, they were brick, 15 feet (4.6 m) tall and wide at the base, and 9 feet (2.7 m) wide at the lantern deck. Each was painted white with black lantern decks, which lent to their looking like three ladies with white dresses and black bonnets – the birth of the name "Three Sisters."

Replacement lighthouses

By 1890, however, the three lights were dangerously close to the cliff's edge. Since it was impossible at the time to move the three lights intact, three 22-foot (6.7 m) wooden lighthouses with otherwise identical markings were built in 1892 to replace the former lights, each built 30 feet (9.1 m) west of their original sites and using the lenses from the originals.

The Beacon

However, erosion continued, and by 1911, with the northernmost light only eight feet from the cliff, it was decided to move the lights back again. At this time only the center light was lit, with a triple flash in homage of her two decommissioned sisters, and became known as The Beacon. In 1918, with both their lanterns removed, the decommissioned north and south lights were purchased and incorporated into a summer cottage along Cable Road. The Beacon, which was now attached to the oil house, was in disrepair, and following its decommission, the northern "Twin Light" of Chatham was moved north to Eastham, to a site near the original lights, becoming the Nauset Light.

Renovation for the National Register of Historic Places

The Beacon was incorporated into a summer cottage, where it stayed until 1975, when it was purchased by the National Park Service. It was moved to a field to join its sisters, who had been bought ten years earlier, and, following their listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the three were renovated to their current state, less than 400 yards (370 m) west of their replacement and in their original configuration.^[2]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Cape Cod National Seashore
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Barnstable County, Massachusetts

References

Lighthouses of Massachusetts
Annisquam Harbor Bakers Island Billingsgate Island Bird Island Bishop and Clerks Borden Flats Boston Brant Point Broad Sound Channel Butler Flats Buzzards Bay Entrance Cape Ann Cape Poge Chatham Clark's Point Cleveland East Ledge Cuttyhunk Deer Island Derby Wharf Dumpling Rocks Duxbury Pier East Chop Eastern Point Edgartown Harbor Egg Rock Fairhaven Bridge Falmouth Inner Fort Pickering (Winter Island) Gay Head The Graves Great Point Highland Hospital Point Range Front Hospital Point Range Rear Hyannis Rear Range Ipswich Range Long Island Head Long Point Lovells Island Range Marblehead Mayo Beach Minot's Ledge Monomoy Point Nantucket Beacon Nantucket Cliff Range Nantucket Harbor Range Nauset Ned Point Newburyport Harbor Front Range Newburyport Harbor Newburyport Harbor Rear Range Nixes Mate Nobska Old Scituate Palmer Island Plymouth Point Gammon Race Point Sandy Neck Sankaty Head Spectacle Island Range Stage Harbor Straitsmouth Island Tarpaulin Cove Ten Pound Island Thacher Island North Three Sisters of Nauset West Chop West Dennis Wing's Neck Wood End

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