Marblehead Light

Marblehead Light stands on Marblehead Neck at the entrance to Marblehead Harbor in Massachusetts and is unique in New England for its square skeletal tower rather than a traditional masonry form. Requested by local residents in 1831, the station began service in 1835 with a smaller tower lit by whale-oil lamps. After improvements in 1857, deterioration led to construction of the present cast-iron-pile lighthouse, completed in 1895 and first illuminated in 1896. Its light changed from white to red and then green, and it was automated in 1960. Still an active aid to navigation, it is also a rare example of coastal engineering and historic preservation.

Marblehead, Massachusetts · United States