The Graves Light is a
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Lighthouses mar ...
located on
The Graves, the outermost island of the
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
The Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area is a national recreation area situated among the islands of Boston Harbor of Boston, Massachusetts. The area is made up of a collection of islands, together with a former island and a peninsula, ...
, and offshore of downtown
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
, USA.
[
At , it is the tallest ]lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Lighthouses mar ...
in the approaches to the Port of Boston
The Port of Boston ( AMS Seaport Code: 0401, UN/LOCODE: US BOS) is a major seaport located in Boston Harbor and adjacent to the City of Boston. It is the largest port in Massachusetts and one of the principal ports on the East Coast of the United ...
, and is an important navigation aid for traffic to and from the port. It was built at the same time that the North Channel into Boston Harbor
Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeastern United States.
History
Since ...
was dredged to become the principal entrance for large vessels. The Graves are the outermost rocks near the outer end of the North Channel.[
It was added to the ]National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
as Graves Light Station on September 28, 1987, reference number 87002041.
Construction and history
The lighthouse was built in 1905, to a conical design using granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
blocks on a granite foundation, and equipped with one of the few first-order Fresnel lens
A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships."
The design allows the c ...
used. The lens assembly stands about 12 ft (4m) tall and is now at the Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
. The light was the setting for the climactic storm in the 1948 film ''Portrait of Jennie
''Portrait of Jennie'' is a 1948 American fantasy film based on the 1940 novella by Robert Nathan. The film was directed by William Dieterle and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten. At the 21st Academy Awar ...
''.
Operated by the United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...
, the light was automated in 1976 and has a characteristic of two white flashes every 12 seconds.
Various sources agree that the ledges were named for a Thomas Graves, but differ on who he was; some prefer a 17th-century English rear admiral; others like a colonial-era American merchant. The USCG history web site shows both.Charlestown, Massachusetts
Charlestown is the oldest neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Originally called Mishawum by the Massachusett tribe, it is located on a peninsula north of the Charles River, across from downtown Boston, and also adjoins t ...
, but who died in an English naval battle against the Dutch in 1653.
The Graves Island Light Station was put up for auction on June 10, 2013, by the U.S. General Services Administration. Opening bid was $26,000. The tenth and winning bid was a record $933,888, the highest price ever paid for a U.S. lighthouse. A Massachusetts couple, David and Lynn Waller, were the buyers of the lighthouse. The lighthouse includes two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a study, but landing is difficult and entering the building requires traversing a ladder. A former caretaker described it like "living in a pipe."
, the Wallers were undertaking a major restoration project costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
See also
*
References
External links
*
Graves Island Light Station Auction
Graves Light Station official homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graves Light, The
Lighthouses completed in 1903
1903 establishments in Massachusetts
Boston Harbor
Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Lighthouses in Boston
National Register of Historic Places in Boston