Egg Rock Light (Massachusetts)

This article is about a former lighthouse in Nahant, Massachusetts. For the lighthouse in Frenchman Bay, see Egg Rock Light (Maine).

Egg Rock Light

US Coast Guard photo
Location	Egg Rock, Nahant Bay, [Nahant] Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°26′0″N 70°53′53″W
Tower
Constructed	1856
Automated	1919
Shape	Square Brick Tower with Attached Quarters
Markings	White
Light
First lit	1898 (latest structure)
Deactivated	1922, destroyed 1927
Lens	5th order Fresnel lens
Characteristic	F W. later F R

Egg Rock Light was first established in 1856 after a schooner went down with the loss of five lives.^[1] The original structure was a lantern on top of a stone dwelling built from granite cut on the island. After the wreck of the schooner Shark the characteristic was changed to fixed red because the captain of the Shark was said to have confused it with Long Island Head Light in Boston Harbor.

Following a fire in 1897 it was rebuilt with a square tower attached to the house. The light was operated at reduced intensity during World War I because of concerns over German submarines. It was automated in 1919 when a gas beacon replaced the oil light.

The structure was sold for $160 with a clause requiring the purchaser to remove it from the island. While moving the house down to the water, a cable snapped and the house slid into the water. The tower was destroyed in 1927. The island is now a bird sanctuary.^[1]

References

1. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-08-31. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.