Notes:
(1) Gay Head Lighthouse was authorized by President John Quincy Adams to mark the treacherous shoal, Devil’s Bridge, at the entrance to Vineyard Sound.

      On May 24th, 1602, Bartholomew Gosnold first explored the mile long, 130-feet high brilliantly multicolored clay cliffs and traded furs with the Aquinnah Wampanoag Indians.  Gosnold named the headland, Dover Cliff due to the resemblance of the high chalky cliffs in Dover on the English channel.  Later, the English renamed the cliffs, “Gayhead” to describe the gaily colored cliffs as seen approaching the island from the west by boat.

      Aquinnah (Gay Head -see Note 2) has remained a Indian tribal village ever since the first permanent settlement of the Martha’s Vineyard in 1642.  The Aquinnah Wampanoag Indians taught the colonial settlers where to locate clay for bricks, how to kill whales, and plant corn.  There has been a long history of favorable accord between the English and the Aquinnah Wampanoag Indians leading to building an American Lighthouse on Indian land.

      After the Revolutionary War, the Sounds of Cape Cod became the busiest waters in America with commerce, fishing, and whaling vessels sailing through Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds to save time.  In 1796, Peleg Coffin, State Senator from Nantucket petitioned the United States to build a Lighthouse on Gay Head for the safety of ships heading Northeast entering Vineyard Sound from Buzzards Bay.

      In 1798, President John Quincy Adams authorized construction of the Lighthouse and Congress approved Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton request of $5,750 for construction costs.  A octagonal wooden Lighthouse was constructed and First Lit on November 18, 1799 to mark Devil’s Bridge, a hazardous shoal below Gay Head Light a quarter of mile offshore at the entrance to the Vineyard Sound.  Ebenezer Skiff was appointed the first Lightkeeper and was the first English man to live in the Aquinnah Wampanoag Indian tribal village.

      Gay Head Light was another early Lighthouse to use a rudimentary Revolving Illuminating Apparatus to produce a Flashing White light.  The Revolving Illuminating Apparatus consisted of whale oil lamps placed on circular service tables attached to a Pedestal rotated by wooden clockwork.  In cold or damp weather, the wooden clockwork became swollen requiring the Lightkeeper to turn the Light by hand.  At times, local Aquinnah Indians were hired to tend the Light by Lightkeeper Ebenezer Skiff who also taught the local children.

      During the “Golden Age of Whaling,” the Aquinnah Indians were fearless and skillful boatsteerers in American whaling fleets.  During the height of Whaling, Edgartown, Massachusetts had a world-wide reputation for the best captains, officers, and mates; and Aquinnah (Gay Head) was famous for its Wampanoag Indian Harpooneers.  They were in great demand as boatsteerers on whaling voyages because of their harpooning skills as illustrated by Tashtego in Moby Dick.  Boatsteerers launched the iron lances into the whale and the independent maritime activities of Aquinnah Wampanoag Indian tribal village also depended on Gay Head Lighthouse.

      From 1746 to 1863, American Commercial Deep Sea Whaling was the backbone of lighting American Lighthouses.  Whale Sperm Oil fueled the Lamps until 1863 when Sperm Oil sold for $2.43 per gallon and was replaced by Lard Oil.

      The original optics were refitted with ten Lewis Patent Lamps and reflectors between 1810 and 1812.  The testing of the Lewis Patent Lamps proved the lamp burned a brighter light and used half the oil needed for spider lamps yet they were inferior to Argand lamps with parabolic reflectors.  In 1838, a New Bedford blacksmith rebuilt the Lantern and deck and a Lighthouse inspector described the Lighthouse was in good order and its revolving light could be seen for 20 miles.

      In 1842, I.W.P. Lewis, Civil Engineer to the U.S. Light-house Survey, reported the deterioration of the wood Tower and Lightkeeper Ellis Skiff noted the reflectors were worn down and the revolving light apparatus frequently stopped during cold weather.

      In 1852, a comprehensive investigation report on United States Lighthouses determined a first-class Light Station was required at Gay Head which was listed as the ninth most important seacoast light.  From 1854 to 1856, the present Federal Revival style 51-feet high brick Lighthouse and brick Keeper’s house was constructed.  The masonry Tower structure was designed to support the heavy loads of the revolving clockwork machinery and a First-order Fresnel lens that was displayed at the World’s Fair in Paris.


      In 1902, the 1856 Keeper’s house was razed and replaced by wood framed house after Lightkeeper Edward Lowe died in 1892 and later, four children of Lightkeeper Crocker Crosby died from a mysterious illness caused by the extreme dampness of the Keeper’s house.

      In 1920, Charles W. Vanderhoop was appointed as the tenth Lightkeeper and was the only Aquinnah Wampanoag Indian to officially tend the Lighthouse.  During his service, Gay Head Light was a reliable aid due to his knowledge of the Fresnel Lens acquired when he was an assistant Keeper at Sankaty Head Light.  Charles Vanderhoop was a exceptionally popular Lightkeeper who entertained visitors with stories during tours of the Light and his children made clay pottery from the cliffs that was sold to the Lighthouse visitors.

(2) In 1870, the Aquinnah Indian village was incorporated as the Massachusetts town of Gay Head to identify the spectacular bluffs and the sovereign tribal government of Aquinnah Wampanoag Indians persevered.

      In order to protect the Gay Head Cliffs from further erosion, Aquinnah (Gay Head) Cliffs has been a National Historic Landmark since Jul 30, 1966.

May 14, 1997: Gay Head residents voted to change the town’s name to Aquinnah. May  7, 1998: Name change was signed into law. Aug  5, 1998: Gay Head was officially changed to Aquinnah, from the Wampanoag language meaning “The shore or end of the island below the cliffs.” For more information, visit the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah.

(3) First-order Fresnel Lens is on display at the Dukes County Museum (Vineyard Museum), Edgartown and is lighted every evening after dark throughout the year.

(4) Directions:
      There are at seven Ferries to Martha’s Vineyard: from Woods Hole, from Falmouth to Edgartown, from Falmouth to Oak Bluffs and from Hyannis on Cape Cod, Massachusetts; from Nantucket and New Bedford, Massachusetts; and a Ferry leaves from Montauk, NY.

      Since there are several ferry landings on the island, further driving directions are from the ferry terminal in Vineyard Haven:  Turn Right onto Beach Road, turn Left onto State Road (1.8-mi).  State Road becomes Vineyard Haven Road for 0.7-miles.  Continue on State Road (2.6-mi), turn Right onto North Road (5.7-mi), and turn Left onto Menemsha Cross Road (1-mi).  Bear right onto Middle Road (40-feet).  Middle Road becomes South Road in Chilmark.  Travel South Road for 3-miles to State Road.  Continue on State Road for 3-miles.

      Aquinnah (Gay Head) Lighthouse is at the end of State Road after the intersection with Lighthouse Road.  Martha’s Vineyard Historical Society offers Sunset Lighthouse tours during the summer.

      A Sailing Cruise departs from historic Edgartown Harbor exploring the harbors and coastline around Martha’s Vineyard.  Depending upon the course, all five island Lighthouses may be seen from the water.

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      In season, several companies provide 2-1/2 hour Sightseeing Bus tours of the island that may pass by four of the island’s Lighthouses.