July 24, 2015- The Graves Light, Boston Harbor Massachusetts

Saw an offshore view of this light from the Hull Lifesaving Museum in Hull Massachusetts on July 24th 2015.  There is a stamp for this light, but it is located in downtown Boston.  Have to get it on a future trip.  

The Graves Light is a lighthouse located on The Graves, the outermost island of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, and 9 miles (14 km) offshore of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

At 113 feet (34 m), it is the tallest lighthouse in the approaches to the Port of Boston, and is an important navigation aid for traffic to and from the port. It was built at the same time that the North Channel into Boston Harbor was dredged to become the principal entrance for large vessels. The Graves are the outermost rocks near the outer end of the North Channel

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Graves Light Station on September 28, 1987, reference number 87002041.

• 1 Construction and history
• 2 See also
• 3 References
• 4 External links

Construction and history

The lighthouse was built in 1905, to a conical design using granite blocks on a granite foundation, and equipped with one of the few first-order Fresnel lens used. The lens assembly stands about 12 ft (4m) tall and is now at the Smithsonian Institution. The light was the setting for the climactic storm in the 1948 film Portrait of Jennie.

Operated by the United States Coast Guard, the light was automated in 1976 and has a characteristic of two white flashes every 12 seconds.

Various sources agree that the ledges were named for a Thomas Graves, but differ on who he was; some prefer a 17th-century English rear admiral; others like a colonial-era American merchant. The USCG history web site shows both.^[1] The new owners retained a historian who ascertained that the ledges were named for Rear Admiral Thomas Graves (1605–1653), whose family settled in Charlestown, Massachusetts, but who died in an English naval battle against the Dutch in 1653

The Graves Island Light Station was put up for auction on June 10, 2013, by the U.S. General Services Administration. Opening bid was $26,000. The tenth and winning bid was a record $933,888, the highest price ever paid for a U.S. lighthouse A Massachusetts couple, David and Lynn Waller, were the buyers of the lighthouse. The lighthouse includes two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a study, but landing is difficult and entering the building requires traversing a 40-foot (12 m) ladder. A former caretaker described it like "living in a pipe."

As of 2014, the Wallers were undertaking a major restoration project costing hundreds of thousands of dollars The lighthouse is still being used for navigation using solar panels since 2001. These replaced the need to pump oil from an adjacent building; the walkway to the oil house washed away in 1991

Location	Offshore of Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°21′53.6″N 70°52′8.7″W / 42.364889°N 70.869083°W / 42.364889; -70.869083Coordinates: 42°21′53.6″N 70°52′8.7″W / 42.364889°N 70.869083°W / 42.364889; -70.869083
Year first constructed	1903
Year first lit	1905
Automated	1976, solar 2001
Foundation	Granite
Construction	Granite Block
Tower shape	Conical
Markings / pattern	Natural with Black Lantern
Height	113 feet (34 m) (tower)
Focal height	96 feet (29 m)
Original lens	First order Fresnel Lens (original)
Current lens	VRB-25
Range	15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi)
Characteristic	Fl (2) W 12s
Fog signal	HORN: 2 every 20s
USCG number	1-390[1][2][3]
Graves Light Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Boston, Massachusetts
Architect	Royal Luther
Governing body	Privately owned / beacon and foghorn operated by COAST GUARD
MPS	Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR
NRHP Reference #	87002041[4]
Added to NRHP	September 28, 1987