Bird Island Light

Bird Island Light is a historic lighthouse at the entrance to Sippican Harbor in Marion, Massachusetts. Built in 1819, its tower is a well-preserved example of an early 19th-century masonry lighthouse. The tower and the island on which it stands were added to the National Register of Historic Places as Bird Island Light on September 28, 1987.[3]

Bird Island Light

Location	Sippican Harbor, Marion, Massachusetts
Coordinates	41°40′9.5″N 70°43′2.4″W
Year first constructed	1819
Year first lit	1819
Automated	1997
Deactivated	1933-1997
Foundation	Surface rock
Construction	Rubble stone
Tower shape	Conical
Markings / pattern	White
Tower height	9.5 metre
Focal height	37 feet (11 m)
Original lens	Fourth order Fresnel lens
Characteristic	Fl W 6s
Fog signal	Original, pyramidal bell tower, none now
ARLHS number	USA-057
USCG number	1-17105[1][2]
Heritage	place listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Bird Island Light
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	3 acres (1.2 ha)
Built	1819
MPS	Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR
NRHP reference No.	87002030 [3]
Added to NRHP	September 28, 1987

Description and history

Sippican Harbor is a deep inlet off Buzzards Bay on the south coast of Massachusetts, which is bracketed by Converse Point on the west and Butler Point on the east, both part of the town of Marion. About 0.5 miles (0.80 km) south of Butler Point lies Bird Island, a 3-acre (1.2 ha) point of land that mostly serves as a bird nesting site. The Bird Island lighthouse stands near the island's center. It is a circular masonry structure about 25 feet (7.6 m), with its light at 37 feet (11 m) above sea level. The tower is topped by a cast iron lantern house, with an outside railing and conical roof with ventilator.[4]

The tower was built when the light was first established in 1819, and was accompanied by an attached stone keeper's dwelling. Three months after it was first lit, with William Moore as the keeper, it was badly damaged by a storm. It was again severely damaged on September 8, 1869 and, again, repaired. It was deactivated by the USCG in 1933. All of the buildings except the tower were destroyed in the New England Hurricane of 1938. In 1940 the island passed into private hands and was acquired by the Town of Marion in 1966.[2] The light was briefly lit in 1976 after undergoing restoration by the local historical society.[4] The Bird Island Preservation Society was formed in 1994 and on July 4, 1997, the light was relit as a private aid to navigation.[2]

The island, but not the tower, is open to visitors except during the May through August nesting season of the endangered roseate tern.[1][5]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Plymouth County, Massachusetts

References

1. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-09-05. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
2. United States Coast Guard (2009). Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. p. 154.
3. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
4. "NRHP nomination for Bird Island Light". National Archive. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
5. Rowlett, Russ (2009-08-06). "Lighthouses of the United States: Northern Massachusetts". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.