The cape Ann lighthouse on Thacher Island
by Jeff Folger
Title
The cape Ann lighthouse on Thacher Island
Artist
Jeff Folger
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography Artwork
Description
This image of Thacher Island Lighthouse was taken from the ocean side of Thacher Island. It gives a different view and feeling as we motor on by. The twin lights can be seen from several points along the coastline of Rockport Massachusetts.
The twin lights of Thacher Island are the oldest set of twin lights still in commission off the coast of Rockport and Gloucester harbors. Thacher Island is a small island off Cape Ann on the Massachusetts coast in the United States. Cape Ann was almost the second village in the colonies back in 1623 but the attempt failed in 1626 due to the harsh conditions. They then set up Salem Massachusetts which became the second city in Massachusetts. But people soon came back around 1642.
By 1771 there were so many shipwrecks around this area that the lighthouses were built on the island. After the battles of Lexington and Concord, The people felt that the lighthouses were helping the British more than the sailors so the Rockport militia went to the island and destroyed the lighthouses. They remained dark for the duration of the Revolution and were repaired in 1784 and operational.
The Cape Ann Light Station is nationally significant as the last light station to be established under colonial rule and the first station in the United States to mark a navigational hazard rather than a harbor entrance. The current pair of lighthouses were built in 1861. They were both equipped with first order Fresnel lenses, which stood approximately 10 ft high and weighed several tons.
The twin lighthouses at Thacher Island either blink red or white. The North tower is a white light and the South tower is red. If a ship�s captain lines up both light they can confirm a true North heading on their compass.
The island, named after Anthony Thacher, is surrounded by many shoals and underwater hazards not to mention that the island itself is very tough to avoid. Over the past 400 years many a ship�s captain ran aground there.
Uploaded
February 19th, 2015
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Viewed 2,875 Times - Last Visitor from Wilmington, DE on 04/25/2024 at 10:05 PM
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