Clarks Point Light

Clarks Point Light at New Bedford, Massachusetts, guided vessels approaching a port once vital to the whaling trade and evolved repeatedly as local needs changed. First established by merchants in 1797, the light was rebuilt after fire and lightning destroyed its early wooden structures. A more durable stone tower went up in 1804 and was later heightened and improved, with a keeper’s dwelling added in 1842. Construction of Fort Taber beginning in 1857 obstructed the old light, so a small lighthouse was built atop the fort instead. Its navigational role ended in 1898, but the structure survived as a reminder of New Bedford’s maritime and defensive history.

Fairhaven, Massachusetts · United States