Notes:
(1) Sandy Neck Lighthouse was built on Beach Point at the end of Sandy Neck to mark the entrance of Barnstable Harbor.  The Light has also been called Beach Point Light and Barnstable Light.

      In 1639, Barnstable was founded as a farming settlement and soon developed commerce and fishing trades.  Sandy Neck, a seven mile barrier sand spit extending to the entrance to Barnstable Harbor, became a prosperous center of the Shore whaling industry with native trees cleared for try-works and firewood to boil the oil out of the whale’s blubber.

      By 1826, Barnstable Harbor was a thriving seaport and a Lighthouse was needed at the point of Sandy Neck to safely guide the local fishing fleet and whaling fleet entering the harbor as well as mariners of the enterprising maritime trade and packet service between Boston and Barnstable.

      A Cape Cod style Lighthouse with a wooden lantern on the roof of a brick Keeper’s house was built and First Lit in 1827 exhibiting a Fixed White light illuminated by ten Oil Lamps with reflectors 40-feet above sea level and visible to a range of nine miles.  Joseph Nickerson was appointed as the first Lightkeeper.

      In 1843, I.W.P. Lewis, Civil Engineer to the U.S. Light-house Survey, described the importance of the Lighthouse as a “very necessary and useful light, worthy of better (lighting) apparatus and more permanent buildings.”  The present 40-feet conical brick Tower was built in 1857 exhibiting a Fixed White light illuminated by Fifth-order Fresnel Lens and one Oil Lamp.


      In 1880, a new 1.5 story Gothic Keeper’s house was constructed.  In 1887, two iron hoops and six staves were used to strengthen the brick tower where severe cracks had emerged.

      In 1931, Sandy Neck Light was decommissioned and replaced by a white steel Skeletal Tower due to the changing shoreline caused by the shifting sands.  The new Tower, located 200 feet closer to the tip of Beach Point, was illuminated by an automated acetylene lamp and the Fresnel lens from the deactivated Lighthouse.  W. L. Anderson, the last Lightkeeper, was transferred to the Great Point Light in Nantucket.

      In 1952, the Skeleton Tower was decommissioned and the Fresnel lens was removed.  The Lantern Room of Sandy Neck Lighthouse was removed and the property was sold as surplus to private owners.  The Skeleton Tower was replaced by a red Lighted Buoy, Flashing Red every 2.5 seconds, to mark the outer extremity of shoal off Beach Point.

(2) 1827 Light Optics: 10 Oil Lamps with Reflectors, Fixed Light 40-foot focal plane visible for about nine miles

(3) The Lens was moved to a Skeleton Tower near the tip of Sandy Neck.

(4) The Lantern Room was removed and the property was sold to private owners in 1933.

In 2004, Sandy Neck Lighthouse Restoration Committee, a Cape Cod chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, was established to build the Lantern Room replica and restore the Light to the Tower of current Sandy Neck Lighthouse that was erected in 1857.  Restoration Plans were approved in 2006 to complete the new Lantern Room for historic restoration and weather protection.on the 150th anniversary of the Tower’s construction.

According to the Barnstable Patriot, construction of the Lantern Room was further delayed when the oversized cast-iron panels could not be aligned on April 14, 2007.  The private family trust who owns the Lighthouse plans to complete the new Lantern Room and relight the Tower on July 4, 2007.

On June 18, 2007, the Headless Lighthouse at Sandy Neck, Barnstable Harbor has a new cast iron Lantern Room.  The reconstructed Lantern Room restores Sandy Neck Lighthouse to appear as a Lighthouse after being decommissioned in 1931 and beheaded in 1932 by the Coast Guard.

The Sandy Neck Lighthouse Restoration Committee now hopes to relight the beacon by the end of the summer to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the 1857 Sandy Neck Lighthouse after the Lantern Room Glass and solar-powered flashing light has been installed.

On October 13, 2007, Sandy Neck Lighthouse was dedicated on the 150th anniversary of the construction of the Lighthouse and the 75th anniversary of its decommissioning to celebrate the restored Lighthouse with a new Lantern Room.  For more information, please visit the news post.

On October 20, 2007, Sandy Neck Lighthouse was reactivated as a Private Aid to Navigation.  The solar powered Lighthouse was re-lighted in a festival followed with a fireworks display.  For more information, please visit the news post.

(5) The restored Lighthouse is best viewed by private boat or from aboard a cruise departing from Barnstable Harbor:


Directions from Boston to the Boat Dock:
      Take MA-3 South (Southeast Expressway) to U.S. Route 6 over the Sagamore Bridge to Exit 6; MA-132 towards Hyannis.  At the first set of lights, turn Left onto Phinney’s Lane.  The road becomes Hyannis Road which becomes Millway Road after the second set of lights.  The Boat Dock and Office of Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises is located at the end of the Millway Road at Millway Marina.

      A distant view of the Sandy Neck Tower can be seen from the parking area of Millway Beach (a residents-only beach) just past the Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises.

      For the adventurous Lighthouse visitor, the private Tower is a strenuous six mile hike from Sandy Neck Beach Parking lot at the end of Sandy Neck Road in East Sandwich.  For a trail map, visit Sandy Neck Conservation Area.

Directions from Millway Beach to Sandy Neck Beach:
      From Millway Road, turn Right onto MA-6A (Main Street, 6.24-mi) and turn Right onto Sandy Neck Road.