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East Chop Light (Telegraph Hill Light)
Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard,
Massachusetts
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General Information
Date Established: 1878
Date Present Tower Built: 1878
Date Automated: 1934
Height of Tower: 40 ft.
Height of Focal Plane: 79 ft.
Location
Distance from You:
Open to Public?: Yes. According to the National Park Service\'s Maritime History of Massachusetts,
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Photos
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Description
The conical-style cast iron light officially called East Chop Light, locally known as the Telegraph Hill Light, was built to guide ships into Vineyard Haven. Originally equipped with a fourth-order Fresnel lens, the light was equipped with a 300 mm plastic lens in 1984. Its characteristic is a three second green flash alternating with three seconds of darkness. The light was built on East Chop, the word "chop" meaning an entrance to a channel. Before the light was built, a semaphore station operated in the same spot, and East Chop also became known as Telegraph Hill, hence the light's nickname. A light opposite East Chop on West Chop had operated since 1817. Silas Daggett, a local mariner, called for a light to be built on East Chop; the authorities believed one light was enough to mark the entrance to the harbor. So, in 1869, Daggett took matters into his own hands and decided to erect a lighthouse at East Chop. He operated it privately for the next seven years, receiving donations from local merchants for its upkeep. Finally, on March 3, 1875, the U.S. Congress appropriated $5,000 to build a light, and Daggett's structure was removed. The light was finished in 1878, along with a one-and-a-half-story keeper's house. The light was originally painted white, but was painted a reddish-brown color in the 1880s, which earned the light the nickname "the Chocolate Lighthouse." The lighthouse is currently painted white. In 1897, an oil house was built for the light. It was torn down, along with the keeper's house, when East Chop Light was automated in 1934.
Photo Credits: Joe Fellini (#1)
| Submitted by: minots_ledger |
Date posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007
| Views: 1291
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