Cape Cod Lighthouse 150th Celebration
Today on National Lighthouse Day, the Truro Historical Society is celebrating the 150 years of the current Cape Cod Highland Lighthouse built in 1857. The Gift Shop will offer discounts, cake, and other goodies. Climbing the 66-feet high Lighthouse Tower to the Lantern Room provides spectacular vistas of the ocean and coastline.
The original Cape Cod Highland Light was authorized by President George Washington in 1796 to safely guide transaltantic and coastal shipping to and from Boston. A 45-feet high wood Tower was built and First Lit in 1797 exhibiting a slow intermittent White Light 160-feet above sea level illuminated by 15 Argand lamps burning sperm whale oil and Reflectors surrounded by a revolving eclipser that rotated around the Light every 80-seconds blocking the Light beam for 30-seconds in the same revolution (50-second Flash, 30-second eclipse).
Due to erosion causing unstable land, the Lighthouse was determined to be unsafe after the Barnstable Patriot reported in 1855 that a part of the ceiling in the Keeper’s house had fallen. In 1856, the Keeper’s house was rebuilt and a new 66-feet high brick Lighthouse Tower was constructed and fitted with a First-order Fresnel Lens in 1857. Currently, the Lighthouse exhibits a Flashing White Light every 5-seconds illuminated by a modern VRB-25 optic 170-feet above sea level to a visible range of 18 nautical miles (The height of the focal plane was 183-feet before the Lighthouse was moved 450-feet inland in 1996).
Lighthouse Background:
For more information about Cape Cod Highland Lighthouse, please click on the photo of this post.
Since the late 1800s, Highland Light has been a beacon for tourists by attracting visitors who enjoy the stunning seacoast vistas and summer breezes. The Truro Historical Society manages the Highland House Museum and souvenir shop located in the Keeper’s House and the Cape Cod Highland Lighthouse.
Map Location:
For Google Map Directions, please visit the Google Map of Highland Lighthouse
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Tags: Cape Cod Lighthouse, Celebration, Highland Lighthouse, Lighthouse News
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July 7, 2008 at 5:09 pm
[...] The “Twin Lighthouses” had three functions: Range Lights marking the safe channel for navigation entering Chatham Harbor, to guide maritime commerce, en route to Nantucket Sound, around the shifting shoreline and shoals of Chatham, and to distinguish Chatham Light from Cape Cod Light. [...]