Monomoy Point Light

Monomoy Point Light by Lighthouse.cc Off Chatham, Massachusetts
Est 1823, rebuilt 1849
Tower is 40 feet tall

The oldest cast iron lighthouse in the east, Monomoy surveys some mighty rough water. Discontinued in 1923 the dramatic red tower is slated for some much needed maintenance as part of a wildlife refuge today.

Jeremy’s Lighthouse Guide #57

Monomoy was once a peninsula some eight miles in length and barely a quarter-mile wide, extending southward from Chatham at the elbow of Cape Cod’s flexed arm. Today, the former peninsula is divided into two islands, North Monomoy and South Monomoy.

Monomoy Point Light by Jeremy D'Entremont Dangerous "rips" occur where Nantucket Sound and the deeper, colder Atlantic Ocean meet to the south and east of Monomoy. Here rapid ocean waves pass over shallow shoals and bars. Lightships were stationed in the vicinity over the years, and Congress appropriated $3,000 for Monomoy’s first lighthouse on March 3, 1823. The first Monomoy Point Light consisted of a wooden tower and iron lantern situated on the roof of a brick dwelling.

Solomon Doane, who became keeper in 1841, reported, "the lantern has been so much racked by storms that it shakes so as to break the glass continually." The poorly constructed station was completely rebuilt in 1849.

The 40-foot cylindrical tower erected in 1849 was one of the earliest cast-iron lighthouses in the nation. The tower was painted red in 1882 to improve its visibility in the daytime. In 1892, iron trusses were added to the tower to prevent vibration.

Asa L. Jones, a Cape Cod native who had been wounded in the Civil War, was keeper from 1875 to 1886. His young son, Maro B. Jones, kept a diary that provides a glimpse of life at the light station in the 1884-86 period. Some typical excerpts:

The poorly constructed station was completely rebuilt in 1849.

March 25, 1884: Good weather. Papa killed a black duck.

March 31, 1884: Good weather. Papa bound a book. Seven geese came to the pond. Papa tried to shoot them.

July 26, 1886: Mr. Ben Mallowes has got a sort of turtle and it looks like a sea cow. No one knows what it is, not even old whalers and Papa is going to write a man to come and get it.

James P. Smith, a native of Copenhagen, became keeper in 1899. His wife died early in his stay at Monomoy, but Keeper Smith had three daughters who assisted him in his duties. The oldest daughter, Annie, acted as housekeeper and tended the light when her father was away.

With the opening of the Cape Cod Canal in 1914, traffic past Monomoy decreased. The light was discontinued in 1923 and the property was eventually sold to George Smith Bearse, a Chatham automobile dealer. When he went to visit the property, Bearse was startled to find that Navy planes had been using it for machine-gunning target practice.

The property came under the management of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in the 1970s. North Monomoy, South Monomoy, and Morris Island now comprise the 2,750-acre Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. According to refuge director Mike Brady, there’s major funding slated for 2010 that will pay for a thorough restoration of the house and tower.

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OUTSIDE LINKS: Official web site

Monomoy Point Light in Chatham, Massachusetts/ Jeremy D'Entremont

Chatham, Massachusetts lighthouse / Jeremy D'Entremont

Copyright 2006 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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