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Hospital Point Range Front Light

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Coordinates: 42°32′47.4″N 70°51′21.4″W / 42.546500°N 70.855944°W / 42.546500; -70.855944
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Hospital Point Range Front Light
US Coast Guard photo
Map
LocationBeverly, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°32′47.4″N 70°51′21.4″W / 42.546500°N 70.855944°W / 42.546500; -70.855944
Tower
Constructed1871
FoundationGranite
ConstructionBrick
Automated1947
Height13.5 m (44 ft) Edit this on Wikidata
ShapeSquare pyramidal tower with attached house
MarkingsWhite, black lantern
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place Edit this on Wikidata
Light
First lit1872
Focal height70 feet (21 m)
LensThird order Fresnel lens (current)
CharacteristicF W
Hospital Point Light Station
MPSLighthouses of Massachusetts TR
NRHP reference No.87002031[1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 28, 1987

Hospital Point Range Front Light is a historic lighthouse at the end of Bayview Avenue in Beverly, Massachusetts. It forms the front half of a range which guides vessels toward Salem Harbor.[2][3] The tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Hospital Point Light Station on September 28, 1987.

Established in 1871, the beacon marks the deep water channel to Beverly, Salem and Marblehead[4] Two bronze plaques contain historical information about the site. One plaque honors Beverly men who manned a fort at the site during the Revolutionary War, and the second describes the lighthouse and a smallpox hospital that was previously located on the site. The lighthouse was first lit in 1872 and was automated in 1947.[5] The Fresnel lens was replaced in 1976, and an acrylic optic was installed in 1981.[6] At some point the original 3.5-order Fresnel Lens was returned to the lighthouse where it presently remains.[7]

The square pyramidal light tower is 45 feet (14 m) tall, made of white painted brick and is topped with a 10-sided lantern.[8] There are five sash windows in the tower, with the doorway facing the keeper's house. A small brick oil house stands nearby. The keeper's house is an example of Queen Anne style architecture, although its historic detailing are obscured by a major addition to the building in 1968.[6]

Hospital Point Light is owned and operated as a navigation aid by the United States Coast Guard. The light is paired with a second light installed in the steeple of Beverly's First Baptist Church in 1927.[9] Vessels are able to use the two lights to align themselves with the middle of the channel, avoiding the rocky shores.

Tours are offered to the public each August for Beverly Homecoming celebrations and include 40 winding stairs and a ladder to the top of the light.[9]

  • Hospital Point Light, February 2010
    Hospital Point Light, February 2010
  • Hospital Point Light Station, Bayview Ave. Beverly
    Hospital Point Light Station, Bayview Ave. Beverly
  • Hospital Point Light Station, Bayview Ave. Beverly
    Hospital Point Light Station, Bayview Ave. Beverly

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-09-02. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
  3. ^ United States Coast Guard (2009). Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. p. 82.
  4. ^ Wright, John Hardy. Images of American: Beverly. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2000. p. 105
  5. ^ United States Coast Guard. Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts. online.
  6. ^ a b "MACRIS inventory record for Hospital Point Range Front Light". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
  7. ^ "Hospital Point Range Front Lighthouse". Lighthouse Friends. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  8. ^ National Park Service. Maritime History of Massachusetts. online
  9. ^ a b Leighton, Paul. (2007, July 28.) Seeing the light: tours offer rare views from Hospital Point. Salem News.
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