Name and Location

Marblehead Light, also known as Marblehead Harbor Light, is a small iron lighthouse located at the eastern entrance to Marblehead Harbor on Massachusetts Bay. It stands at the tip of Marblehead Neck within Chandler Hovey Park and remains an active aid to navigation under U.S. Coast Guard authority.

Construction and History

The first light was authorized by Congress in 1835, with a 25-ft wooden tower displaying a fixed white beam from a fifth-order Fresnel lens. In 1891, the U.S. Lighthouse Board replaced the original structure with the present cast-iron skeletal tower fabricated by Phoenix Iron Works. The older wooden tower and keeper's quarters were later removed. Automation took place in 1972, and the last civilian keeper left the station.

Architecture and Materials

The lighthouse is a skeletal pyramidal tower with a central cylinder, constructed from prefabricated cast-iron plates bolted to a granite foundation. The tower stands at 31 ft tall, with a focal plane of approximately 45 ft above mean sea level. Traditionally painted white (tower) with a black lantern roof, the lighthouse features utilitarian late-Victorian ironwork characteristic of U.S. Lighthouse Board prefabricated designs.

Light and Navigation

The light displays a flashing White beam every 4 seconds (Fl W 4s), with an original fifth-order Fresnel lens replaced by a modern glass beacon. The range is approximately 6 nautical miles, and the aid number (USCG Light List) is 1-2235. Nautical Chart Reference: NOAA Chart No. 13236 (Massachusetts Bay – Gloucester to Boston).

Accessibility and Visiting

The lighthouse grounds are open daily from dawn to dusk, free of charge. Pedestrian paths and a small parking area on Follett Street (Lighthouse Lane) lead to the tower site. The interior of the tower is closed, but the grounds are level and suitable for all-abilities access.

Notable Views and Landscape

Panoramic views of Marblehead Harbor, Marblehead Neck peninsula, and Massachusetts Bay can be enjoyed from the lighthouse location. Visitors can also watch fishing boats and whale-watching vessels departing the harbor.

Anecdotes and Folklore

Some longtime residents claim the light is "haunted" by the ghost of a 19th-century keeper (unverified local legend). Speculation surrounds the old Fresnel lens, rumored to have been sold to a private collector (no definitive record).

Technical and Operational Details

The lighthouse has been fully automated since 1972; no resident keepers are present. The light is an active aid to navigation maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Further Information

• National Register of Historic Places nomination form (Massachusetts Historical Commission)
• U.S. Coast Guard Light List, Volume I (Atlantic Coast)
• NOAA Chart 13236, Massachusetts Bay—Gloucester to Boston
• "Lighthouses of New England" by Robert H. Appell (1996)