Wood End Light

Wood End Light Lookout Station is a historic lighthouse, located at the southwest end of Long Point in Provincetown, Massachusetts. It is located at Wood End, near the southernmost extent of the Provincetown Spit, and acts as a navigational aid to vessels on their approach to Provincetown Harbor. The Long Point Light Station, further down the peninsula at the tip of Long Point is an identical design and completed in 1875, three years after Wood End Light.

Wood End Light
US Coast Guard photo, not dated.
LocationProvincetown, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°1′16.4″N 70°11′36.6″W
Year first constructed1864 (lookout station)
1872 (lighthouse built)
Year first lit1872[1]
Automated1961[1]
FoundationConcrete
ConstructionBrick
Tower shapeSquare, pyramidal
Markings / patternWhite with black lantern
(originally painted brown)[1]
Tower height39 feet (12 m)
Focal height45 feet (14 m) above mean sea level
Original lensFifth-order Fresnel lens[1]
Current lensVRB-25
Range13 nautical miles (24 km; 15 mi)
CharacteristicFl Red 10s (Red flash every 10 seconds)
Fog signalHorn:one 3-second blast every 30 seconds[note 1]
Previous (1902): 1,000 lb (450 kg) fog bell
ARLHS numberUSA-904
USCG number1-13270[2][3][4]
Heritageplace listed on the National Register of Historic Places 
Wood End Light Lookout Station
MPSLighthouses of Massachusetts TR
NRHP reference No.87001504[5]
Added to NRHPJune 15, 1987

The light was first illuminated on November 20, 1872 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. In 1981, Wood End Light became the first Massachusetts lighthouse to be converted to use solar energy to power the light and fog signal equipment.[1][6]

In 1896 a wooden keeper's house was built, as well as a storage shed and oil house. With the changing times and no need to man the light station, it was decided in 1961 to raze the buildings leaving just the tower and oil house.

Wood End Light, 2009

Notes
  1. Fog signal is radio activated, during times of reduced visibility, turn marine VHF-FM radio to channel 83A/157.175Mhz. Key microphone 5 times consecutively, to activate fog signal for 45 minutes.[2]

References
  1. "Wood End Light Lookout Station". Maritime History of Massachusetts, a National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary. National Park Service. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  2. Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2019. p. 119.
  3. Rowlett, Russ (2010-03-10). "Lighthouses of the United States: Southeast Massachusetts". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  4. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
  5. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  6. "Lighthouses of Massachusetts - Thematic Group Nomination (National Register of Historic Places Inventory -- Nomination Form)" (PDF). National Park Service. 4 May 1987. p. Item 7, Page 5. Retrieved 6 November 2014.


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