Notes:
(1) Monomoy Point Light was built to mark the precarious shifting sandbars and shoals caused by strong tidal currents at the end of Monomoy peninsula*.

      In 1620, the Mayflower, en route to the Virginian colony, was entrapped in the violent tidal rip currents, named the Pollock Rip, near the dangerous shoals east of Monomoy.  A change of wind enabled Captain Jones to sail free of the Rip and change his heading for Cape Cod Bay where the Pilgrims landed at Provincetown on November 21st (November 11th, Old Calendar) and signed The Mayflower Compact, America’s first document of freedom and self-government, before settling the Plymouth colony.

      As early as 1711, Monomoy was settled when a seaside tavern was built at Wreck Cove, near the present location of Hospital Pond.  Wreck Cove, aptly named for the surrounding hazardous rip currents, was a ideal location for sailors and fishermen to quaff a few ales, exchange tall tales, and rest their sails.

      Later, Whitewash Village, located at the present Powder Hole, was settled as a thriving fishing community.  By 1800, the Sounds of Cape Cod were the busiest waters in the world outside the English channel because vessels could sail the protected waters of Nantucket Sound and Vineyard Sound enabling maritime trading to reach seaports sooner.  For 114 years (1800-1914), the Sounds of Cape Cod were the main shipping lane used by the bustling maritime commerce, fishing fleets, and whaling fleets.

      In 1823, a Cape Cod style Lighthouse with a iron lantern room and wooden tower extending above the roof of a brick Keeper’s house was built on Sandy Point (currently called Monomoy Point) and exhibited a Fixed White Light illuminated by 8 Lewis Patent Lamps with 13-inch reflectors.  Monomoy Point Light and Great Point Light, located on Nantucket Island, marked the entrance to Nantucket Sound.

      In 1842, I.W.P. Lewis, Civil Engineer to the U.S. Light-house Survey, noted the importance of the Lighthouse at Monomoy Point to warn mariners of the numerous and dangerous shoals.  In his report, Lightkeeper Solomon Doane criticized the leaky structure and the “lantern has been so much racked by storms that it shakes so as to break the glass continually.”  Lewis recommended rebuilding the entire Light Station.

      In 1849, the present 40-feet high cylindrical cast-iron Tower was built.  A two-story Cape Cod-style wood Keeper’s house was also constructed.  Instead of using a strong taper as in earlier towers, Monomoy Point Light was a narrow cylindrical cast-iron Tower.  According to the inspection report of 1850, the new iron Light-house was “neither large enough, nor high enough, nor stiff enough; for I can take hold with one hand of any part of the lantern and shake it to such a degree as to break the tube glasses on the lamps.”  Cast iron Towers sway in the wind and are less stable than masonry towers.  Later, the Lighthouse was lined inside with brick to reduce the sway, provide additional structural support, and provide insulation from the winter cold and summer heat.

      The first Lightship, LV 2, was placed on Station at Pollock Rip in 1849 to assist the Lighthouse on Monomoy Point in warning navigation of the dangerous tidal rip current.  Light Vessel No. 2 was at Pollock Rip from 1849 to 1875.  Eight Lightships were on Station at Pollock Rip from 1849 to 1969.

      About 1850, the fishing industry at Whitewash Village reached its peak.  After this, the fishing village declined as sediments shoaled in the deep harbor which was abandoned when shifting sands transformed the harbor into a shallow brackish pond.

      Monomoy Point Lighthouse was refitted with a Fourth-order Fresnel lens in 1855. After the Life-Saving Service was established in 1872, two Life-saving Stations were built on Monomoy.  The waters surrounding Monomoy Point are the most hazardous in the Northeast due to the shallow shoals, strong rip currents, and storms forming where the open Atlantic Ocean meets Nantucket Sound.  Numerous shipwrecks continued off Monomoy Point despite the Lighthouse and the the Lightship.  The perilous waters surrounding Cape Cod from Provincetown to Monomoy Point have caused over 3,000 shipwrecks in 300 years of recorded history.  From 1872 to 1915, lifesavers stationed on Cape Cod earned being called the “Guardians of the Ocean Graveyard.”  Frequently, Lightkeepers first observed the shipwrecks and signaled the life-saving crews.

      The Lighthouse Board recommended upgrading the Lighthouse to a Second-order Light in 1872.  The Lighthouse Board noted a powerful Light was needed to safely guide all vessels from eastern ports through this perilous passage.  The Board’s recommendation was never approved by Congress.  In 1882, the Tower was painted red to increase the visibility of the Day-mark of the Lighthouse.

      In 1892, iron trusses were fastened to the tower to increase stability and prevent vibration.  Perhaps the most well-noted shipwreck was Vanderbilt’s 285-feet long Luxury Yacht, Alva.  On July 24, 1892, the Alva encountered a dense fog off Monomoy Point and Captain Morrison anchored the yacht in the Pollock Rip Channel, about 4.1-miles east of Monomoy Point Lighthouse waiting for the fog to clear.  ?At 8:20 am, the 300-feet long freight steamer, H.F. Dimock, crashed and wrecked Vanderbilt’s yacht.  Everyone on the yacht was rescued by the crew of the Dimock and within a year, the Alva was declared a menace to navigation and destroyed.

      In 1914, the opening of the Cape Cod Canal redirected shipping from around the Cape and the Sounds to the canal and Buzzards Bay.  With the increase in power of Chatham Light in 1923, Monomoy Point Light was deactivated and sold to George Dunbar who used the property as a hunting camp.

      During World War II, the Navy used the Lighthouse property for a bombing range and machine-gunning target practice.  Miraculously, the Lighthouse sustained little damage.  In 1944, Monomoy Point became a wildlife refuge and the Lighthouse was completely renovated in 1989 due to the efforts of the Lighthouse Preservation Society and Senator Edward M. Kennedy who procured a federal grant in 1988.

*Over the years, storms and tides eroded the peninsula to create Monomoy Island.  In 1958, severe winter storms finally separated Monomoy Point from the mainland and the Blizzard of 1978 split the island into two islands: North and South Monomoy Islands.

(2) Monomoy Point Light was discontinued due to the change in Navigation Routes from the Sounds to the Cape Cod Canal and was replaced by Chatham Light to serve this seacoast region.

(3) Directions:
      South Monomoy Island is accessible by boat only (3a).  The Lighthouse is best viewed by boat and the Monomoy Island Ferry offers South Monomoy Island Day Trips that includes a visit to the historic Monomoy Point Light Keeper’s house.
The Friends of Monomoy may schedule occasional weekend overnight stays in the Keeper’s house from Memorial Day to late September.  For availability and more information, call (508) 945-0594

The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History has discontinued weekend South Monomoy Overnight stays at the Lighthouse during the summer.

(3a) On November 25, 2006, the southern end of Chatham’s South Beach became officially connected to the northeast tip of South Monomoy Island thereby allowing herculean hikers to walk a 15-miles arduous trek from Chatham Lighthouse to the Monomoy Point Lighthouse.

(4) The Optic was refitted with a Fourth-order Fresnel Lens in 1855.

(5) June 1, 1944: Federal government acquired Monomoy as a wildlife refuge through Eminent Domain.
2,450 acres of the refuge was designated a Wilderness Area by an act of Congress on October 23, 1970.