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Written by Jeremy D'Entremont
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Also "Cape Cod Light"
North Truro, Cape Cod, MA
Est 1797, present ligh built 1857
66 feet tall; light is 183 feet above water
A dangerous spot called Peaked Hill Bars, the graveyard of many ships, lies about
a mile northeast of the Highlands at North Truro. In 1794 history says there were
more ships wrecked here than on any other part of Cape Cod.
Jeremy’s Lighthouse Guide #28
As a result, in 1796, the government acquired ten acres of land and a 45-foot
wooden lighthouse, the 20th in the United States, was built 500 feet from the
edge of the bluff at the Highlands.
Naturalist and author Henry David Thoreau visited Highland Light several times
in the 1850s and found the lighthouse "a neat building, in apple pie order." In
his book, Cape Cod, he wrote:
 "The keeper entertained us handsomely in his solitary little ocean house… The
light-house lamp a few feet distant shone full into my chamber, and made it bright
as day, so I knew exactly how the Highland Light bore all that night, and I was
in no danger of being wrecked... I thought as I lay there, half-awake and half-asleep,
looking upward through the window at the lights above my head, how many sleepless
eyes from far out on the ocean stream -- mariners of all nations spinning their
yarns through the various watches of the night – were directed toward my couch."
A new Highland Lighthouse was built in 1857, equipped with a first order Fresnel
lens from Paris. This powerful light was for many years the first glimpse of America
seen by many immigrants from Europe.
The cliff where the lighthouse stands eroded at the rate of at least three feet
a year until, by the early 1990s, the tower stood just over 100 feet from the
precipice. In 1996, funds raised by the Truro Historical Society were combined
with federal and state money to pay for the move of the 404-ton structure to a
site 450 feet back from its former location.
The relocated lighthouse now stands close to the seventh fairway of the Highland
Golf Links, prompting some to declare it the world's first life-sized miniature
golf course. In 1998 Highland Light was opened for visitors, with volunteers giving
tours. It’s now open daily, mid-May through October.
For much more HISTORY on this light click here.
Copyright 2004 by Jeremy D'Entremont,New England Lighthouses
Photos are the property of the author and may not be used without permission.
Photos above from Jeremy D'Entremont.
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