Image: Edgartown Harbor Light (c1830), with new lantern room and wooden bridge*

Description: Photo of the original Edgartown Harbor Light c1830 - a wooden, Cape Cod Style, two-story Keeper's house. In 1830 Congress approved funds for a new lantern room and wooden bridge connecting the lighthouse with nearby waterfront land. From 1828 to 1830, the lighthouse Keeper; his family; guests; and visiting public had to row a short distance to access the lighthouse. This wooden causeway was eventually referred to colloquially as the "Bridge of Sighs." A term that reflected the emotions of island people as they stood on the walkway watching whaling ships depart for voyages that lasted up to five years. As depicted in the photograph, this initial Edgartown lighthouse featured a glass lantern room protruding from the middle of the gabled roof of the Keeper's residence. This lantern room contained a fixed white light that was visible for about 14 miles. The lighthouse in the photograph was destroyed in the Hurricane of 1938. In 1939, the United States Coast Guard demolished the building and installed an 1881 vintage cast-iron tower relocated from Ipswich Rear Range Light.[7] When reconstructed at the mouth of Edgartown Harbor, the relocated conical tower was fitted with the fourth-order Fresnel lens, electrified, and automated.
Title: Edgartown Harbor Light (c1830), with new lantern room and wooden bridge*
Credit: United States Photo Archive
Author: William Waterway
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No