Notes:
(1) Butler Flats Light was built to replace Clark’s Point Light.  Clark’s Point Light became obscured after Fort Taber was built. The new Lighthouse was built in 14-feet of water on Butler Flats to mark the entrance to New Bedford Harbor.

      In the late 1800s, New Bedford became the third largest manufacturing city in Massachusetts after the decline as the whaling center of the world.  New Bedford Harbor was home to a large fishing fleet and about 500,000 tons of freight was shipped to the port in 1890.

      To better serve the safety of maritime interests, a Lighthouse was needed to better mark the New Bedford Channel at the mouth of the Acushnet River 4,200-feet offshore from Clark’s Point.

      In 1898, a “sparkplug” style brick Lighthouse was built with integral living quarters, watchroom, office space, and storage area on a 35-feet diameter iron cylinder filled with concrete and stone.  Butler Flats Light was First Lit on April 30, 1898 exhibiting a Flashing White light 53-feet above sea level illuminated by Fifth-order Fresnel lens and kerosene lamp.


      Francis Hopkinson Smith, Lighthouse Engineer, designed Butler Flats Lighthouse to withstand the forces of 14-feet deep seas by dredging five-feet of mud to create a solid stable foundation for supporting the “sparkplug” style Lighthouse.  Mr. Smith was renown for his underwater foundation design of Race Rock Lighthouse, the foundation for the Statue of Liberty, and designing Ponce de Leon Inlet Light Station, the tallest lighthouse in Florida and the second tallest lighthouse in the nation.  He also wrote Captain Thomas A. Scott, Master Diver, detailing the submarine work at Race Rock in 1908.

      Originally, the Tower was painted red until 1899 when the daymark was changed to white.  Amos Baker, Jr. and Charles A. Baker were the only two civilian Light-keepers before the Coast Guard was assigned to maintain and manage America’s Lights in 1939 (See Note 3).

      In 1905, 200 tons of rip-rap stones were placed around the foundation to protect the Lighthouse from ice damage and scouring around the base of the cylinder.

      In 1975, the Coast Guard erected an automatic beacon and fog signal on the hurricane seawall near Palmer’s Island constructed to protect the harbor after the disastrous Great Hurricane of 1938.  Butlers Flat Light was considered non-essential and decommissioned.  The City of New Bedford acquired the Lighthouse in 1978 and installed a solar-powered automatic beacon maintained by a private group.

      Unfortunately, the walls and the battery-operated light were damaged by vandalism.  Vandals also broke windows and covered the tower with graffiti.  In 1993, the city refitted the Lighthouse with a new optic and added a exterior lighting security system.

      In 1997, volunteers and Bristol County House of Correction inmates refurbished the Lighthouse in preparation for the Centennial Celebration.  On April 30, 1998, Butler Flats Light was relighted using a solar powered Tidelands RB-300 MaxLumina rotating beacon.

(2) Refitted Optics:

1978: Automated as one of the first solar-powered lighthouses.

Apr 30, 1998: The Lighthouse was restored and relighted with New Cable-powered Optics 100 years after the first lighting.

(3) Only three Light-keepers were appointed to tend the Lighthouse: Amos Baker, Jr. who died in service (1898-1911), Charles A. Baker (1911-1941), and Leland S. Rose (1943-1946).

      Leland S. Rose was one of the last surviving members of the United States Lighthouse Service.  On August 15, 1938, he joined the U.S. Lighthouse Service for duty on the Light Vessel 85, a Lightship assigned to relief of Massachusetts Lightships from 1923 to 1942.  In 1943, Leland was assigned to Butler Flats and Palmer Island Lighthouse after his Coast Guard induction as Seaman 2nd Class on April 1, 1940 and he was honorably discharged as a chief boatswain mate on April 23, 1946.

      Thanks to his niece, Eleanor Hendricks, Leland S. Rose was recently honored for his service by the Foundation for Coast Guard History and the Mayor of New Bedford.  At the USS Massachusetts, he gave an oral history interview and donated a desk he saved from Butler Flats Light to the New Bedford Whaling Museum.  On November 13, 2003, Leland S. Rose, 90 years old, died at a Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and he will be remembered for preserving his role in the legacy of American Lighthouses.

(4) Distant views of Butler Flats Light can be seen along the waterfront from East Rodney French Boulevard to Fort Rodman.

Directions from MA-18 South in New Bedford:
     MA-18 S becomes the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway (1.7-mi).  Turn Left onto Cove Street (0.0-mi), and Turn Right onto East Rodney French Boulevard.