Egg Rock Light

Egg Rock is a little less than a mile northeast of the town of Nahant. The three-acre island is about 80 feet high and can be seen from many locations north of Boston, from Winthrop to Marblehead. The first lighthouse was built on Egg Rock in 1856 with Congressional funding. The lighthouse was considered essential in guiding Swampscott's growing fishing fleet safely to port. "The lighthouse's fifth-order Fresnel lens produced a fixed white light, first exhibited on September 15, 1856. It was changed to red a year later in reaction to the wreck of the schooner Shark, whose captain had mistaken Egg Rock Light for Long Island Head Light in Boston Harbor." After a fire, "the lighthouse was rebuilt in 1897 with the addition of an oil house in 1904, and a new pier and boat house in 1906. During World War I, the light at Egg Rock was dimmed because of fears of enemy submarines in the area. By 1919, an automatic gas-operated beacon was placed in the tower, but in 1922, the light was discontinued. The government sold the buildings at auction for $160, requiring the new owner to remove the buildings from the island. During this move, a cable snapped and the house tumbled into the ocean. Today, Egg Rock is the home of the Henry Cabot Lodge wildlife sanctuary.--from New England Lighthouses : a virtual guide, viewed 03-17-2008.

Distant view of Egg Rock Ligtht and its out buildings

Title provided by cataloger

Date estimated

Institution: Swampscott Public Library

Massachusetts -- Essex (county) -- Nahant

1910?

image/jpeg

LHV9

Egg Rock Light (Nahant, Mass.)

Lighthouses

still image

Photographs

1 photograph : b&w