Long Point Light

Provincetown, MA
38 feet tall

Originally built on sand, the lighthouse site dates to the late 1700s. Today it can be see via a seasonal shuttle at the historic site where the Pilgrims first visited on their arrival in 1620, making this an extra special destination point.

Jeremy’s Lighthouse Guide #53

Long Point, at the fingertip of Cape Cod’s bended arm, was visited in 1620 by the Pilgrims after they entered Provincetown Harbor. A fishing settlement began here in 1818, reaching its peak in the 1850s with more than 200 people. By the 1820s, it was apparent that a lighthouse at Long Point would greatly aid mariners entering the harbor. On May 18, 1826, Congress appropriated $2,500 for that purpose and four acres of land on the narrow sand spit were acquired.

The first lighthouse was a keeper’s house built on pilings in the sand, with a short tower on the center of its roof. The first keeper was Charles Derby, who had first come to Provincetown in 1798 at the age of four as the ward of the captain aboard the whaling ship Polly. An 1843 inspection report called Charles Derby "intelligent and attentive."

The 1826 building deteriorated badly in the next few decades, and the contours of the beach that surrounded the lighthouse changed, leaving it more exposed and vulnerable. Congress appropriated $13,000 in 1874 for a new tower, keeper's dwelling, and fog bell.

A square brick lighthouse, 38 feet high, and a wood-frame keeper's house were built in 1875. The lantern held a fifth-order Fresnel lens showing a fixed white light. A 1,200-pound fog bell was also installed at this time on a tower erected north of the lighthouse, along with striking machinery.

In 1933, during one of the common thick fogs in the area, the mechanism that rang the station's fog bell broke down. Keeper Thomas L. Chase rang the bell by hand for over nine hours straight, pulling the rope with his right hand every 30 seconds. After a few hours of sleep he had to sound the bell for several more hours, this time with his left hand.

The light was automated in 1952 and the keeper's house was subsequently destroyed. The Cape Cod Chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation has been licensed by the Coast Guard to maintain the lighthouse. For more information or to donate to the care of Long Point Light, write to the American Lighthouse Foundation, P.O. Box 889, Wells, ME 04090, or visit them on the Web.

A company called Flyer's runs a seasonal shuttle boat from Provincetown to Long Point. See or call (508) 487-0898. For more on this station’s history, see Lighthouse.cc.

View of Long Point Light by Jeremy D'Entremont

Provincetown, MA / Jeremy D'Entremont

Lighthouse from the beach at Provincetown, MA/ Lighthouse.cc

Postcard Long Point, Provincetown, MA / Lighthouse.cc

Copyright 2005 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.

News about Portsmouth from Fosters.com