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Managing Organization:
Martha's Vineyard Historical Society
Telephone:
508-627-4441
Website: http://www.gayheadlight.org
Email: info@gayheadlight.org
Contact Address Information:
Box 827
Edgartown
Massachusetts,
02539,
United States
Notes:
Gay Head Light was leased by the Coast Guard to the Vineyard Environmental Research Institute in 1985; the license was transferred to the Martha's Vineyard Historical Society in 1994. All the buildings at the station except the lighthouse tower were destroyed by the Coast Guard. Because the lighthouse is threatened by erosion, in the January 2013 edition of Lighthouse Digest, the lighthouse was added to the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List of Endangered Lighthouses. In 2013 the Gay Head Lighthouse Committee was formed to help lead the way to save the lighthouse. In May of 2015, at a cost of $3 million, the Gay Head Lighthouse was moved over 100 feet away from the eroding bluff and to safety. And was removed from the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List. Tower Height: 51 Height of Focal Plane: 170 Characteristic and Range: Alternating red and white flash every 15 seconds. Description of Tower: Conical brick tower (unpainted) with black cast iron lantern.
This light is operational
Earlier Towers?
1799: Octagonal tower. Date Established: 1799 Date Present Tower Built: 1856 Date Automated: 1960 Optics: c. 1810: 10 lamps and reflectors; 1856: First order Fresnel lens (removed 1952); now DCB-224. Current Use: Active aid to navigation. Open To Public? At times. Museum?
The lighthouse is open to the public from mid-June to August, Friday through Sunday, from one hour before to 1/2 hour after sunset. A small donation is requested. Call (508) 627-4441 to confirm days and times. Directions:
Martha's Vineyard is accessible by car/passenger ferry from Hyannis, Falmouth, Woods Hole and New Bedford. Call the Martha's Vineyard Chamber of Commerce at (508) 693-0085 for ferry information. The Gay Head cliffs and lighthouse are at the western tip of the island. Sightseeing tours of Martha's Vineyard are available from Island Transport, Inc.; call (508) 627-8687. All tours stop at Gay Head. There is a cluster of shops and restaurants near the cliffs, as well as a lookout offering a panoramic view of the cliffs and lighthouse. Listed on the
National Register of Historic Places Keepers: Ebenezer Skiff (1799-1828); Ellis Skiff (1828-1845); Samuel Flanders (1845-1849 and 1853-1861); Henry Robinson (1849-1853); Ichabod Norton Luce (1861-1864); Calvin C. Adams (1864-1869); Horatio N. T. Pease (1869-1890); Calvin C. Adams (Jr.?) (assistant c. 1880); Edward P. Lowe (1891-1892); Crosby L. Crocker (1892-1920); Charles W. Vanderhoop (1920-1933); James E. Dolby (1933-1937); Frank A Grieder (1937-1948); Joseph Hindley (1948-1956)
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