Two readers sent me the recent Boston Globe article on the preservation of The Graves Lighthouse, located nine miles offshore at the mouth of Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. The incredible restoration of this 113-foot tower is the vision of lifetime U.S. Lighthouse Society member Dave Waller, who purchased the property at public auction in 2013.
The U.S. Coast Guard maintains the modern optic as an active aid to navigation. The light’s original first-order lens manufactured by Barbier, Bernard and Turenne, Paris, is now part of the undisplayed collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
The 1905 tower is constructed of granite quarried from Cape Ann, Massachusetts. The interior is lined with brick.
Dangerous ledges and the lack of a dock make this lighthouse inaccessible to the general public; however, an extensive website was created to keep the public informed of the project.
Photos submitted by Dave Waller, January 3, 2017
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U.S. Lighthouse Society News is produced by the U.S. Lighthouse Society to support lighthouse preservation, history, education and research. Please consider joining the U.S. Lighthouse Society if you are not already a member. If you have items of interest to the lighthouse community and its supporters, please email them to candace@uslhs.org.
Candace was the US Lighthouse Society historian from 2016 until she passed away in August 2018. For 30 years, her work involved lighthouse history. She worked with the National Park Service and the Council of American Maritime Museums. She was a noted author and was considered the most knowledgable person on lighthouse information at the National Archives. Books by Candace Clifford include: Women who Kept the Lights: a History of Thirty-eight Female Lighthouse Keepers , Mind the Light Katie, and Maine Lighthouses, Documentation of their Past.