Boston Light
Boston, United States
Open to visitors
The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.
Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.
Find out more
- Heritage registerNational Register of Historic Places↗
- ReferenceARLHS World List of Lights↗
- Further readingAtlas Obscura↗
Boston Light, situated on Little Brewster Island in outer Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, is the oldest lighthouse site in the United States, with construction dating to 1716. Destroyed during the American Revolution when British forces retreated in 1776, it was reconstructed in 1783 at its original height of 75 feet. The tower was raised to its present height of 98 feet in 1856, when a 12-sided second order Fresnel lens and new lantern room were installed. Now standing 30 meters tall, Boston Light remains the second oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the United States and is notably the only American lighthouse still staffed by the U.S. Coast Guard, even after its automation in 1998. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.
- Built
- Type
- lighthouse
- Heritage
- National Register of Historic Places listed place, National Historic Landmark
- Height
- 27 m
- Place
- Boston, United States
This building on
Architecturally similar
Whitehead LightKnox County, United States
Portland Head LightCape Elizabeth, United States
Portsmouth Harbor LightNew Castle, United States
Staten Island LightStaten Island, United States
Cape Hatteras LighthouseDare County, United States
Portland Breakwater LighthouseDorset, United Kingdom
Portland Bill LighthousePortland, United Kingdom
Bremerhaven lighthouseMitte, Germany
Location