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Falmouth on Cape Cod was named
for Falmouth, England, home port of explorer Bartholomew Gosnold,
who gave Cape Cod its name. At first the English settlement in
the area retained its Indian name, Suckanesset; it was changed
to Falmouth in 1690.
- The first Nobska Light (U.S. Coast
Guard photo)
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One of Falmouth's villages,Woods Hole, with its deep harbor,
developed a substantial whaling fleet in the early years of the
nineteenth century. Besides the local maritime traffic, Nobska
Point was passed by a stream of vessels crossing through Vineyard
Sound, bordered by Falmouth and the Elizabeth Islands to the
north, and Martha's Vineyard to the south. In 1829, the year
the lighthouse was established, it was reported that more than
10,000 vessels passed through the area.
Prominent Nobska Point was an ideal place for a lighthouse.
Congress appropriated $3,000 for that purpose on May 23, 1828.
The first lighthouse, built in 1828 for $2,249, was a typical
Cape Cod‚style structure with an octagonal lantern on top
of the keeper's house. There were three rooms on the first floor
of the dwelling, and two small rooms upstairs. The lantern held
a lighting system of 10 lamps and 14-inch reflectors, displaying
a fixed white light 78 feet above the sea. Like some similar
lighthouses, this one had problems with leaks, as the lantern
created too much stress on the roof.
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Because the light station was located on the mainland, the
keeper was not provided with a boat. Lt. Edward Carpender surveyed
Nobska Light in 1838 and recommended that an exception be made,
saying, "Should the regulation be waived in favor of any
one, I hope it will be extended to this individual, who once
had it in his power, with the government boat, no longer serviceable,
to rescue some persons from drowning."
In 1843, engineer I. W. P. Lewis issued a scathing report
to Congress after inspecting the lighthouses of the northeast
coast, but Nobska Light was spared. Lewis reported that the station
was "in good order and repair."
Through much of the nineteenth century, the keepers had to
count the vessels that passed the light. On one day alone in
1864, Keeper Frederick Ray counted 188 vessels -- including 175
schooners -- passing the point.
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In 1876, the lighthouse was rebuilt as a 40-foot cast-iron
tower lined with brick, with a fifth-order Fresnel lens. The
individual sections of the lighthouse were cast in Chelsea, Massachusetts,
and transported to Woods Hole in four sections. The new tower
was painted a dark reddish-brown color.
The lens was upgraded to fourth-order in 1888, and a red sector
was added to warn mariners of the dangerous L'Hommedieu and Hedge
Fence shoals. New striking machinery for the fog bell was installed
in the same year. Four years later, a 100-foot stone wall was
added to protect the fog bell tower, which was closer to the
water than the lighthouse. Further protection was added in 1900,
and a new building was added to house the striking machinery.
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- From the collection of Edward Rowe
Snow, courtesy of Dorothy Bicknell
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- The fog bell ca. 1890s. From the collection of Edward Rowe Snow, courtesy
of Dorothy Bicknell
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A covered walkway joining the tower to the keeper's house
was added in 1899, along with a new water cistern.
A second dwelling for an assistant keeper and his family was
added in 1907. The two houses were joined many years later.
Oliver A. Nickerson had the longest stay of any keeper in
the station's history, from 1874 to 1911. A 1908 article described
the duties of the keeper's daughter, Florence Nickerson. For
the previous seven years, she had been the official "observer"
at Nobska, keeping track of all the vessels passing by in daylight
hours. "She is shrewd and kindly," said the article,
"one of those Yankee girls who fear nothing and take life
cheerfully." Besides her observational duties, Florence
kept house at the station and tended a flock of chickens.
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- Boston Public Library
In 1910, a new brick fog signal building was erected, with
a fog whistle operated by compressed air. The keepers started
the signal when visibility dropped below five miles.
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In August 1935, Keeper John M. Scharff and Assistant Keeper
Waldo Leighton rescued a man who had fallen overboard from his
sailboat in a squall.
The Coast Guard took over the management of lighthouses in
1939, but civilian keepers remained at Nobska Point Light until
November 1973.
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Osborne Hallett was in charge from 1955 to 1968, and Joseph
Hindley was his assistant. Hindley took over as keeper in 1968.
When he retired in 1973, Hindley was believed to be the last
civilian lighthouse keeper in New England. His career in the
Lighthouse Service dated back to 1927, when he was an assistant
at Whale Rock Light in Rhode Island.
- December 29, 1967: Osborne E. Hallett,
Joseph G. Hindley Jr., and Harry A. Wilbur are awarded Gallatin
Certificates by Capt. Frederick J. Hancox, commanding officer
of Coast Guard Group Woods Hole. The men were the last three
civilian lighthouse keepers in New England. (Wilbur was keeper
at Warwick Light, Rhode Island.) Courtesy of Anne Ames.
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The light was automated and the Coast Guard keepers were removed
in 1985. The last officer in charge was Charles Tebo, who lived
at the lighthouse with his wife, Gina, and their two young children.
After automation, the station became the home for the commander
of U.S. Coast Guard Group Woods Hole, which was renamed in 2006
as Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England.
The lighthouse has been "adopted" by the members
of the Coast
Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 11-02,
and there are occasional public open houses in season.
There's a small parking area near the lighthouse, and the
grounds are open to the public until dusk every day.
You can read much more about this lighthouse in the book The Lighthouses
of Massachusetts by Jeremy D'Entremont.
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- A wreath on the lighthouse in December
2003
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Keepers: Peter Daggett (?-1849); William Davis
(1849-1853); William Ferguson Jr. (1853-1861); Frederick Ray
(1861-1874); Oliver A. Nickerson (1874-1911); George I. Cameron
(assistant 1910-1911, principal keeper 1911-?); John M. Scharff
(1925-1955); Waldo Leighton, assistant (c. 1935); George T. Gustavus
(assistant 1911-?, prinicpal keeper1939-1941); Joseph G. Hindley,
Jr. (assistant, c. 1956-1968, keeper 1968-1972); Osborne E. Hallett
(1955-1968)
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