b'HIGHLAND LIGHT, TRURO, MA (MAP: #4)On May 17, 1796, Congress appropriated $8,000 (approximately $175,000 in todays money) for Cape Cods first lighthouse. The government purchased ten acres of land from IMAGE CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Isaac Small on Truros Highlands. Small Theyre everywhere, even on our licensebecame Highland Lights first keeper and thus, plates.the Capes first keeper. First lit in November of 1797, the 45-foot octagonal tower was the twentieth lighthouse in the United States. It was the first in the country to have a flashing light to distinguish it from Boston Light. In the 1840s, necessary repairs to Highland Light revealed errors with its construction and lamps. Similar problems revealed at other lighthouses around the country led to major changes in how the government built and man-aged lighthouses. Highland Light still stands today in Truro, but was moved in 1996 to pro-tect the historic building from coastal erosion.GAY HEAD LIGHT, MARTHAS VINEYARD, MA (MAP: #18)By the mid-17th century, the term for the area known as Gay Head on Marthas Vineyard had become commonplace, derived from the diverse IMAGE CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS hues of the clay in the cliffs. The imperative for a Approximate Locations of Cape Cod Wrecksbeacon at this locale is due to the presence of a A map of the lighthouses of the Cape & Islands. Image1903. Each small annotation/dot is a wreckprotracted underwater shoal known as the Dev-Credit: Cape Cod Maritime Museum known before 1903.ils Bridge, which renders the passage through Vineyard Sound perilous for both sailors and ves-ornaments, plates, doormats, napkins, and sosels. The strong tidal currents, underwater much more. So what is the allure? Is it the elusive- ledges, and large boulders at Devils Bridge cre-ness and remoteness of the structure? Is it theate very tricky boating conditions, even when beauty, and danger of the sea they sit lookingthere is only a light breeze. The wreck of the pas-over? Is it the border between land and sea thatsenger steamer City of Columbus, which ran they sit on? The architecture and design of theaground on Devils Bridge in January 1884, is a structure? The engineering of the light? Is it theprime example of the importance of these lights. imagery of the grizzled, salty Lighthouse keeperCharles Vanderhoop was the only Aquinnah tending to the light even during foul weather? Is itIMAGE CREDIT: DIGITAL COMMONWEALTH,Wampanoag Indian to tend Gay Head Light. IMAGE COLLECTION OF HISTORIC SOCIETYVanderhoop was a great storyteller who the memories these structures resurrect fromOF OLD YARMOUTH enjoyed giving tours to visitors. One memora-previous vacations? There are a plethora of differ- Highland Light and bluffs, souvenir postcard. ble guest was President Calvin Coolidge. After ent reasons why lighthouses are, and will remain,Vanderhoops tour, the President remarked on so popular amongst visitors and residents alike. the beautiful view from the lighthouse balcony. The first lighthouse in Massachusetts was the Boston Light, constructed in 1716 in orderEDGARTOWN LIGHT, to safely guide ships into Boston Harbor. WhileMARTHAS VINEYARD, MA ships heading into Boston Harbor had a new safety measure added, ships that entered the(MAP: #19)harbor from the south still had to pass throughThe rise of the whaling economy on Marthas the dangerous waters of the Outer Cape. SeaVineyard by the mid-19th century necessitated traffic around Cape Cod boomed, especiallythe building of a lighthouse on the spit of the after the American Revolution. With thebeach off Edgartown and across the harbor from increase in traffic, this danger only increased.Chappaquiddick Island. The dwelling at this light-Between 1705 and 1709, Truro was named Dan- house, along with the lighthouse were fully gerfield - a name that speaks to the number ofexposed to the oceans fury. By 1849, the keepers wrecked ships off the coast. Peaked Hill Barshome was no longer structurally sound, and the (pronounced PEAK-ed), a series of shallowkeeper was living at a separate home. Outbuild-sandbars on the Northeast tip of Provincetown,ings were added to the structure, but the keepers now a part of the Cape Cod National Seashore,house was finally destroyed by a storm in 1938. bears the name the Ocean Graveyard due toThe Coast Guard had planned to erect a skeleton its notoriety for sinking ships. The region des- tower with a beacon in its place, but residents perately needed the addition of these new-fan- IMAGE CREDIT: U.S. COAST GUARD highly objected. A tower taken from Cranes gled beacons of safety. Vanderhoop in his Lightkeepers Uniform. Beach in Ipswich replaced the structure instead. 14 This is Hy-Line'