Notes:
(1) Nauset Light was built to guide coastal navigation past the Nauset Shoals en route to Nauset Harbor as well as the Cape Cod to Boston Approach.

      The first recorded shipwreck on the eastern seaboard occurred on December 17, 1626, when the ketch, Sparrow Hawk, was wrecked near Pochet Neck at Nauset Beach about 3.5 miles south of the present Nauset Light.  Three Lights were erected 212-years later during the peak of maritime commerce and whaling navigation around Cape Cod.

      In 1644, Eastham, the “Gateway to the National Seashore,” was settled as the “Nawsett” colony after purchasing tracts of land from the Nauset Indians. Agriculture, fishing and saltworks was the livelihood of Eastham settlers until the topsoil of cleared lands was wind-swept away by strong winds from the ocean.  The oak and pine trees were used for fuel and shipbuilding.  Cod and mackerel fisheries became important maritime industries as well as harvested oysters shipped north to Boston.  Maritime activities were primarily centered from harbors located on Cape Cod Bay side of Eastham.

      By 1824, Captain Jesse Collins was sailing the first centerboard sloop in Eastham waters from Nauset Harbor (on the Atlantic ocean side of Eastham) to run salt to Boston at five cents per bushel.  Centerboard vessels (invented in 1809) had a enormous effect on American maritime commerce because the ships sailed well when light and allowed a shallow draft for navigating coastal waters.

      In 1836, Eastham residents notified the Boston Marine Society that a Lighthouse was needed at Nauset Beach located 14-miles south of Highland Light (North Truro).  Congress approved the Boston Marine Society petition for a three-light navigational aid at Nauset Beach to guide coastal navigation past the Nauset Shoals in 1837.

      Winslow Lewis was awarded the contract with the lowest bid of $6,500 ($3,500 less than the Congressional appropriation).  Three identical 15-feet high brick Lighthouses were built 150-feet apart on the Nauset cliffs in 1838.  Each Lighthouse exhibited a Fixed White Light illuminated by Lewis Patent Lamps and reflectors 97-feet above sea level.  A one-story Keeper’s house was also constructed.

      The purpose of the Nauset “Triple Lighthouses” was to distinguish* the Nauset Light Station from Highland Light to the north and the Twin Lights of Chatham to the south.  The Nauset Lights were America’s first and only Three Light Station and mariners soon nicknamed the Lights, the “Three Sisters of Nauset” because the small Towers and Black Lanterns resembled three ladies in white dresses with black hats.

      All three Lighthouses were poorly and quickly constructed in 38 days.  Several critics found the use of three Lights to be a impractical expensive method of achieving their purpose.  In 1843, I.W.P. Lewis, Civil Engineer to the U.S. Light-house Survey and nephew of Winslow Lewis who designed the “Three Sisters”, reported that the three Lights should be replaced by one Light with a Flashing White characteristic.  The “Three Sisters” remained unchanged despite the critics complaints.

      In 1856, the original optics of the three Lights were refitted with Sixth-order Fresnel Lenses and upgraded to Fourth-order Fresnel lenses in 1873.  The present 1.5-story Gothic Revival Keeper’s house was built in 1875. The sandy Nauset cliffs, like the bluffs at Chatham Light and Highland Light, are exposed to the forces of erosion by the encroaching sea.  By 1890, all three Towers were near the edge of the bluff.

      In 1892, three 29-feet high White wooden Towers with Black Lanterns were built 150-feet apart further inland from the bluff.  The Fourth-order Fresnel lenses from the brick Towers were moved to the new wooden Lighthouses exhibiting Fixed White Lights 95-feet above sea level.  The original “Three Sisters” were abandoned and eventually destroyed by erosion later in the same year.


      By 1911, the Northern Light Tower was within eight feet from the edge of the bluff due to the constant erosion of Nauset cliff.  This time, the Bureau of Lighthouses determined a single Light was required and two Towers were removed and sold as surplus.  The center Lighthouse was relocated further inland and connected to the Keeper’s House in 1911.  Nauset Light exhibited a White light Flashing three times every ten seconds in tribute to the “Three Sisters.”  The decommissioned Towers were purchased for $3.50 in 1918 and used as summer cottages located on Cable Road by the Cummings family of Attleboro, Massachusetts.

      In 1923, the active last deteriorating “Sister” was sold and replaced by the North Tower from Chatham Twin Lights which was changed a single Light Station.  The decommissioned Tower from Chatham was disassembled for easy transportation to Eastham and rebuilt on a concrete foundation.  The Fourth-order Fresnel lens was transferred from remaining “Sister” and the lamp was fueled by kerosene.  The Keeper’s House was moved inland and located near the new White 48-feet high Lighthouse.  The last “Sister” became the center structure of a private L-shape summer cottage called “The Beacon.”


      In 1940, The Tower’s Day-mark was painted red and white to match its light characteristic of alternating red and white flashes.  In 1955, Nauset Light was automated and the Keeper’s house was sold as surplus to private interests.  The Fresnel lens was replaced by a DCB-224 aerobeacon in 1981.

      In 1965, the National Park Service purchased the “headless” (no Lantern rooms) north and south towers.  The center “Sister” was acquired in 1975 and all “Three Sisters” were relocated in their original configuration of 150-feet apart and about 8.5° off north on Cable Road 1,800-feet from Nauset Beach Light in 1983.  Restoration of the tower’s wood framing began in 1988 and was completed in 1989.

      The forces of coastal erosion never cease on the Atlantic ocean side of Cape Cod with an average annual erosion rate of 3.8-feet.  Yet the bluffs at Nauset Light had accelerated to a erosion rate of 5.8-feet per year due in part to the “No-name Northeaster of ’91” (later renamed “The Perfect Storm” by the National Weather Service).  The U.S. Coast Guard proposed the decommissioning the lighthouse in 1993 but local residents formed The Nauset Light Preservation Society to move and save the Lighthouse.

      On April 17, 1995, the Coast Guard transferred ownership of the Lighthouse to the National Park Service who leased Nauset Light to the Preservation Society.  The Lighthouse relocation was funded by The Nauset Light Preservation Society who raised over $80,000 and a $300,000 federal grant.

      On November 16, 1996, Nauset Light was 36-feet from the edge of the bluff when the International Chimney Co. and Expert House Movers began to slowly move the 90-ton tower.  Nauset Light was relit as a Private Aid to navigation after being moved 336-feet on May 10, 1997.  The Keeper’s House was moved to the new location near the Lighthouse on October 27 & 28, 1998.

*The technology of flashing characteristics did not improve until American Lighthouses were refitted with Fresnel Lenses from 1851 to 1861.  A “flash” at timed intervals was produced by the bulls eye of the Fresnel Lens, rotated by a counterweight clockwork mechanism.  In addition, the increased intensity of the focused light beam from a Fresnel Lens eliminated the need for multiple lights.  Furthermore, Red and Green Lights reduce the visible range of the light beam causing the Lewis Patent Lamps and reflectors to become totally ineffective.

(2) The Original Fresnel Lens on Display at the Salt Pond Visitor Center, Eastham, Massachusetts.

(3) Directions from Boston:
      Take MA-3 S (Southeast Expressway) to U.S. Route 6 over the Sagamore Bridge.  Continue on U.S. Route 6 to Eastham.  At the third traffic signal from Eastham/Orleans rotary, turn Right onto Bracket Road, drive to the end and turn Left onto Nauset Road.  Turn Right onto Cable Road, At end of Cable Road, turn Left onto Ocean View Drive, and drive to the Nauset Beach parking lot.


      From the parking lot, there is a marked path to Nauset Light.  The Nauset Light Preservation Society occasionally offers open houses.  For a Tower Tour Schedule, Visit Nauset Light Tours. The Cape Cod National Seashore occasionally offers a one hour Lighthouse Tour of the “Three Sisters.” For a Tour Schedule, visit the Cape Cod National Seashore Activities web page.