Boston Light

Boston Light
Boston Light
LocationLittle Brewster Island Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°19′41″N 70°53′24″W / 42.32794°N 70.8901°W / 42.32794; -70.8901
Tower
Constructed1716
FoundationGranite Ledge
ConstructionMasonry, Rubble Stone with brick lining
Automated1998
Height89 feet (27 m)
ShapeConical
MarkingsWhite with five steel bands and black trim
HeritageNational Historic Landmark, National Register of Historic Places listed place 
Fog signalHORN: 1 every 30s
Light
First lit1783 (current tower)
Deactivated1776–1783 and during the Revolutionary War.
Focal height102 feet (31 m)
LensTallow candles (1716), 2nd order Fresnel lens (current)
Intensity1,800,000 candlepower
Range27 nautical miles (50 km; 31 mi)
CharacteristicFlashing white every 10 seconds.
Boston Light
Area3.5 acres (1.4 ha)
MPSLighthouses of Massachusetts TR (AD)
NRHP reference No.66000133
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966

Boston Light is a lighthouse located on Little Brewster Island in outer Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. The first lighthouse to be built on the site dates back to 1716, and was the first lighthouse to be built in what is now the United States. The current lighthouse dates from 1783. It is the second oldest working lighthouse in the United States (after Sandy Hook Lighthouse in New Jersey) and is the only lighthouse to still be actively staffed by the United States Coast Guard despite its automation in 1998. The structure was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.