Notes:
(1) Sankaty Head Light was built to mark Davis South Shoals offshore and Old Man Shoal located 1.3 miles offshore from Tom Nevers Head.

      Since 1605*, mariners knew about the hazardous shoals offshore from the east and south of Sankaty Head.  During the 17th century, a watch-station for shore whaling was located on the 90-feet high bluff.  During the Revolutionary War and War of 1812, privateers frequently sought refuge in Sankaty’s lee during foul weather.

      Cargoes, ships, and lives were lost due to the shifting currents and sand bars for almost 245 years.  Charts of the shoals were imprecise due to the frequent changes and a Lighthouse was needed to warn seamen of the treacherous region surrounding Sankaty Head.

      Surprisingly, a Lighthouse was not erected until 1849, six years after I.W.P. Lewis, Civil Engineer to the U.S. Light-house Survey, stressed the need for Lighthouse at the “fatal spot upon the coast of Massachusetts, where many a brave heart and many a gallant ship lie buried in one common grave.  The shoals of Nantucket are known and dreaded by every navigator on the Atlantic seaboard.”

      In 1848, Congress appropriated $12,000 to erect a Light on Sankaty Head, a 90-feet high headland, to mark the location of the perilous waters.  A brick Keeper’s House was built in 1849 and the construction of the Lighthouse was completed in 1850 supervised by Benjamin F. Isherwood.  The Tower supported by a 5-foot deep brick foundation was built using brick to a height of 53-feet and granite blocks 6-feet above the bricks with a 9-foot high Lantern.  Sankaty Head Light was First Lit on February 1, 1850 exhibiting a Flashing White light (two 1.5 minute Flashes followed by a 3 minute Flash) illuminated by a Second-order Fresnel Lens and a single wick whale oil lamp 154-feet above sea level visible to a range of 18 nautical miles.  Sankaty Head Light was the first new Lighthouse to use a Fresnel Lens as original equipment (see Note 3).

      The Lighthouse also marked a refuge below the bluff for ships endangered by strong westerly winds.  The first Lightkeeper, Captain Alexander Bunker and his assistants, rotated four-hour night watches to fuel the lamp and rewind the clockwork mechanism that rotated the Fresnel Lens.  His assistants traveled on horseback to tend the Light.

      In 1886, a flagpole was erected to display storm signals and telephone lines were extended to the Lighthouse.  A larger Keeper’s house was built in 1887 for housing two Keepers and their families.  To increase the Light's visibility, the Tower was raised ten-feet and a new Lantern Room was installed in 1888.


      In 1950, the original Second-order Fresnel lens was replaced by a DCB-24 rotating beacon and the double Keeper’s House was razed in 1953.  A new ranch-style Keeper’s House was built and Coast Guard personnel continued to live at the Sankaty Head until 1992 after the Lighthouse was automated in 1965.

      In 1970, the Coast Guard removed the Lantern Room until residents and Nantucket visitors complained.  A new aluminum Lantern, similar in appearance to the original Lantern Room, was installed.

      In 1990, the Army Corps of Engineers estimated that Sankaty Head Light would be destroyed by the eroding bluff within ten years.  Sankaty Head Lighthouse has been endangered by bluff erosion since the Perfect Storm of October 30, 1991 washed away 17-feet of the bluff.  Save Our Sankaty, a non-profit organization, was established after the Perfect Storm to raise funds for relocating the Lighthouse.

      All ancillary buildings were razed and the ranch-style Keeper’s House was removed and relocated to Miacomet Village for elderly housing.  PreservatiON MASS (formerly known as Historic Massachusetts, Inc.) added Sankaty Head Light to the list of Ten Most Endangered Historic Resources.

      In 1994, the Blazing Star Lighthouse was 96-feet from the edge of the bluff when the first bluff erosion control project was implemented.  Since then, all erosion control efforts have failed.  A Beach Dewatering system that was implemented in 1994 has been non-functional since 2005.  The battering winter Nor’easters of 2005 accelerated bluff and beach erosion and the coastal bank terraces were washed away during the Patriots Day Nor'easter of April 16, 2007, leaving the historical Sankaty Head Lighthouse 75-feet from the edge of 90-feet high bluff.

      After 13 years of failed rescue plans, the U.S. Coast Guard transfered ownership of the quintessential Sankaty Head Lighthouse to the Nantucket Historical Association and Sconset Trust on Aug 30, 2007 after the Coast Guard was assured the Sconset Trust relocation rescue plan would work.

      The 450-ton brick Lighthouse will be relocated in October 2007 by the renowned International Chimney Corporation and Expert House Movers who have hydraulically pushed four Lighthouses to a safer location inland.  Since July, work crews have been preparing 157 year old Lighthouse for the October move by wrapping a cable girdle around the brick tower and excavating the foundation for the steel I-beams used to hydraulically lift the Lighthouse onto the steel relocation track.

      Expert House Movers will hydraulically push he Blazing Star of Nantucket 390-feet to the northwest and 250-feet from Sconset bluff’s edge to a safer location inland next to the fifth hole of the Sankaty Head Golf Course.  The entire relocation cost is estimated to be $4 million.

      From October 1 to October 11, the Blazing Star Lighthouse was relocated 405-feet northwest inland to a safe sanctuary next to the 5th hole of Sankaty Head Golf Club. The news and photos of this historic event was covered by the following three posts:
Lighthouse Locomotion, Preparation necessary to push the 450-ton symbol of Nantucket 62-inches every 10 minutes.

Sankaty Head Lighthouse Ready to Roll, Relocation Photo journal Slideshow created by Rob Benchley of The Nantucket Independent.

Sankaty Head Lighthouse has landed!, On Oct 11, 2007, the Lighthouse was lowered the final few inches onto the new foundation.

      Wealthy Siasconset residents are currently seeking at least 10 permits neccessary for the controversial $25 million dollar Sconset Beach Preservation Fund’s (SBPF) massive beach nourishment plan to dredge and hydraulically pump 2.6 million cubic yards of sand from a 195-acre site near Bass Rip Shoal located approximately 2.7-miles east-northeast of Sankaty Head Lighthouse to the three-mile Siasconset (locally called Sconset) shoreline of Nantucket from Sesachacha Pond past Sankaty Head Lighthouse to Codfish Park and the Village of Siasconset to build up Sconset Beach which will hopefully stabilize the 90-feet high Sconset Bluff.  The cost of the project will be privately funded by the wealthy residents of Baxter Road.

      According to the SBPF erosion defense plan, sand pumped from the shoals will bury a “sand gate” of bulwark timbers to form a berm at the base of the bluff which in theory would keep the heavy seas of Nor’easters and hurricanes at bay.  A second barrier of sand between the berm and the ocean would be the second line of defense in preventing bluff erosion.  The third barrier calls for beach replenishment and widening.

*In 1605, Captain George Weymouth, English explorer, first described Sankaty Head bluff as a “whitish sandy cliffe.” Sankaty is the English place name for “sankoty,” a Indian word meaning highland.  Captain Weymouth also kidnapped five Indians from the New England coastline and is famous for teaching Squanto some English.  Sixteen years later, Squanto (or Tisquantum) negotiated a peace treaty between Massasoit and the Wampanoag, and John Carver and the Pilgrims on March 22, 1621.

(2) The original Characteristic was Flashing White, two 1.5 minute Flashes followed by a 3 minute Flash visible for 27.6 miles.

(3) In March 1841, Navesink Twin Lights were the first Light Station to use Fresnel Lenses (“Lenticular Apparatus”).  Both Light Towers were refitted using a First-order and Second-order Fresnel Lens.

      In 1848, Congress approved the installation of Second-order Fresnel Lens at Sankaty Head Light, Nantucket, MA and a Third-order Fresnel Lens at Brandywine Shoal Light (the rebuilt Tower was First Lit October 28, 1850), Delaware for further testing.

      Sankaty Head Light was the Second American Light and the First New Light Station to use a Fresnel Lens.  The new Fresnel Lens created a Light beam so bright that Sankaty Head was called the “Rocket Light” or the “Blazing Star.” Local Fishermen joked that it was bright enough to bait a hook by at night.  In 1933, the Lighthouse was converted to Electric Lights increasing the Light beam’s candlepower seven-fold and a motor replaced the clockwork mechanism in 1938.

      After 100 years of focusing the Light beam, the original Fresnel lens was replaced by DCB-24 rotating beacons in 1950. The original Fresnel lens is on display at the Nantucket Whaling Museum.

(4) In 1887, the original 1.5-story Duplex Brick Bungalow 1849 Keeper's House was razed and replaced by a enlarged wood-framed Keeper’s House for the Head Keeper and his assistant.  Two Ranch-style Keeper’s Houses were built in 1960.

      By the 1990s, beach erosion threatened the Lighthouse and Save Our Sankaty (SOS) was formed to raise money to move the Lighthouse inland.  In 1994, the Coast Guard razed the ancillary buildings after a powerful storm advanced the ocean to within a 110 feet of the Lighthouse.

(5) Sankaty Head Lighthouse is considered a gravestone to the prosperous whaling industry. By 1850, the economy was declining from the overhunting of whales and the discovery of kerosene (“Earth Oil” or “Coal Oil”) in 1852*. Kerosene burns more efficiently and costs much less than sperm oil.

*In 1852, Dr. Abraham Gesner, Canadian geologist, applied for a patent for producing Kerosene and on March 27, 1855, he received a patent for his process of extracting kerosene from bituminous shale and coal.

(6) Directions:
      There are at two Ferries from Hyannis to Nantucket Island: Hy-Line Cruises and Martha’s Vineyard & Nantucket Steamship Authority.  From Nantucket center, follow the signs “To Airport, Siasconset.”  At the Nantucket rotary, take Milestone Road for 6.5 miles to a rotary.  Bear Left onto Main Street and drive to the end, turn Left onto Sankaty Avenue, turn Right onto Butterfly Lane, and turn Left onto Baxter Road. Drive to the end of Baxter Road where there is limited parking.  The grounds of the Lighthouse are open to the public and the Tower is closed to the public.


      A excellent way to view all three Nantucket Lighthouses is a guided tour in an air-conditioned van that stops for photographs:

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