NEWBURYPORT HARBOR LIGHT
Plum Island
Newburyport,
Massachusetts
Cold..., it was freezing! I could barely get my fingers to work the control buttons on my camera. And it was snowing. First light I've seen with a green light. There used to be two lights here but they discontinued the front range one.
This lighthouse is old, in fact it is the eleventh one built in the country, and they built two of them, remember. A light station was first established on Plum Island in 1788. They may have been signing the Constitution right around then. The current tower seen in these photos was built in 1898 and stands 35 feet high. The 4th order Fresnel lens that originally shone from the lantern was removed in 1981 and now the green lensed beacon turns off, or occults, every 15 seconds.
It was a pretty drive out to the light. Once you get on Plum Island and head north, you're on a narrow little finger of sand with some houses on it. I bet it would be nice in the summer.
OF THE MOUNTAINS
John B Caddell
Copyright 2001