Notes:
(1) Bass River Light was built to mark the small Harbor at the mouth of Bass River and guided navigation crossing Nantucket Sound.

      Bass River divides the towns of Dennis and Yarmouth from Follins Pond at the head of Bass River to the harbor at the mouth of Bass River emptying into Nantucket Sound.  English settlers discovered Cape Cod Bay and its nearby coves overflowing with lobster, mackerel, and cod.

      From 1746 to 1866, heavy navigation sailed the Nantucket Sound en route to the ports of Whaling and Fishing industries located at Nantucket, Bedford, and several havens along Cape Cod.  In addition, the waters of the Sound around Bass River as well as the river yielded scallops, quahogs, clams and oysters.  The nearby ponds provided a plentiful source of pickerel and bass.

      Villages along Bass River became prosperous centers of maritime enterprise with busy navigation sailing along the river yet the first federal government survey determined a Light was not needed.

      A private small Lighthouse or Beacon was built on the jetty near West Dennis Beach to mark the jetty and aid local mariners in the vicinity of the mouth of the Bass River.  This limited information about the aid was mentioned by Warren Crowell’s granddaughter, Millie Crowell Stringer and a petition circulated in 1850.

      Prior to Bass River Lighthouse, a private Light was tended by Warren Crowell who lit a Lantern in the window of the attic of his home located on Wrinkle Point.  Ship captains using Bass River paid twenty-five cents a month for the Sperm Oil of Crowell’s Lamp.

      In 1850, a petition to Congress requested that the Beacon on the Breakwater at the mouth of the Bass River be replaced by a Lighthouse to guide and safeguard navigation through the Sound.  In response, Congress appropriated $4,000 to build a Lighthouse in West Dennis.

      In 1854, a 1.5-story white Lighthouse with a Tower and Lantern projecting from the roof was built and a Fifth-order Fresnel lens exhibiting a Fixed White light was First Lit in 1855.  Walter Crowell became the first Lightkeeper and served until the Civil War.*  Crowell was wounded and captured in Virginia, and after the war he returned to keeping the Lighthouse until 1880.

      In 1880, the Lighthouse Board determined the Light was in excess after Stage Harbor Light was established in Chatham and Bass River Light was sold.  The Crowell’s moved back to their home on Fisk Street in West Dennis.  After numerous complaints, the government bought the Lighthouse back 6-months later.  Bass River Light was relit in 1881 and Captain Samuel Adams Peak from Hyannis was appointed Lightkeeper.  Captain Peak was the third generation of Cape Cod Lighthouse Keepers; his father, John Peak served at Bishop and Clerks Light, and Point Gammon Light; and his grandfather, Samuel Peak was the first Lightkeeper of Point Gammon Light in Hyannis.  In 1906, Russell Boardman was appointed the Light Station’s final Keeper after Captain Samuel Adams Peak died.

      In 1914, Bass River Light was deactivated after the Cape Cod Canal was opened.  Cape Cod Canal redirected most of the navigation away from Nantucket Sound and towards Buzzards Bay.  The Fourth-order Fresnel lens was removed and Bass River Lighthouse was replaced by an automatic beacon on a skeleton tower at the entrance to Bass River (see Note 2).

      Bass River Light and property was sold at auction. Harry K. Noyes of Noyes Buick in Boston bought the Lighthouse as a summer home and he expanded the main house.  After his death, the Lighthouse was vacant for five years.  In 1938, State Senator Everett Stone bought the Lighthouse and his wife advertised for overnight guest lodging.  Over the years, the Stone family have expanded their seasonal oceanfront resort to become a popular hotel known as the Lighthouse Inn.

      On National Lighthouse Day, August 7, 1989, the Lighthouse was relighted as a private aid to navigation commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Lighthouse Service.  After Bass River Light had been extinguished for 75-years, a modern 300 mm optic Flashes a White light every 6-seconds to guide the navigation of Nantucket Sound and Bass River.

*According to the Massachusetts Civil War Research Center, Warren Crowell, Jr. was enlisted in Company G of the Twenty-Ninth Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry which was organized December 13-17, 1861, Mustered into Service on January 17, 1862, and Mustered out of Service on July 29, 1865.  Their database appends Junior to Warren Crowell’s name indicating his father was living when enlisted.  The mystery of this Light’s history during the Civil War deepens as one source (A) claims that his wife tended the Light as the customary practice while her husband was away at war yet another source (B) claims Lightkeeper Crowell’s family moved to their home on Fisk Street and Captain James Chase became the Lightkeeper followed by his replacement, Zelotes Wixon of Dennis who arrived at Bass River Light in July of 1861.  Note the importance of the dates listed above: both replacement Lightkeepers were at the Lighthouse before Warren Crowell enlisted in the Civil War and there is no reference that Captain Chase was trained by Lightkeeper Crowell!

(A) “Lighthouses of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket - Their History and Lore.”
      by Captain Admont G. Clark, USCGR, Retired

(B) “The Lighthouse Inn: A Shining Beacon for Travelers.” -Lighthouse Digest, September 2001,
      by Jeremy D’Entremont

(2) From 1914 to 1989, the Lighthouse was replaced by a skeleton tower that continues to be a US Coast Guard Active Aid to Navigation.


(3) Relighted as a Private Aid to Navigation on the 200th anniversay of the Federal Lighthouse Service, August 7, 1989.
     The Light is in service from May 1 to Oct. 31 and is recognized by the United States Coast Guard as the West Dennis Light.

(4) According to the Stone Family’s “Brief History of Lighthouse Inn,” their Light is the only privately owned and privately maintained working Lighthouse in the nation.

(5) Directions from Route 6, Cape Cod:
     Take Exit 8 and turn Right onto Station Road to Route 28. Turn Left onto Route 28, cross over the Bass River bridge, and continue for about a 1/2 mile.  Turn Right onto School Street for 0.6 miles, turn Left onto Lower County Road for 0.1 miles, and turn Right onto Lighthouse Road for 0.3 miles.  Turn Left onto Lighthouse Inn Road.

     Drive to The Lighthouse Inn, 1 Lighthouse Inn Road, to view the West Dennis (Bass River) Lighthouse.  The Stone family oceanfront resort inn overlooking picturesque Nantucket Sound is open from May to October.  For more information, call (508) 398-2244 or visit their web site, The Lighthouse Inn.