Minot's Ledge Light Scituate, Massachusetts

Minot's Rocks... lie off the southeastern chop of Boston Bay. These rocks or ledges... have been the terror of mariners for a long period of years; they have been, probably, the cause of a greater number of wrecks than any other ledges or reefs upon the coast.

-- Captain William H. Swift


A replica of the lantern room of Minot's Light on foggy day

Minot's Ledge -- about a mile offshore, near the line between the South Shore towns of Cohasset and Scituate -- is part of the dangerous Cohasset Rocks. The roll call of shipwrecks through the years near the Cohasset Rocks was lengthy, with many lives lost. In August 1838, the Boston Marine Society appointed a committee of three to study the feasibility of a lighthouse on the ledge. The committee reported in November 1838:

The practibility of building a Light house on it that will withstand the force of the sea does not admit of a doubt-the importance of having a light house on a rock so dangerous to the navigation of Boston, on which so many lives, & so much property has been lost is too well known to need comment. . .







In April 1851, less than three months after Swift's letter, a colossal storm struck the New England coast, turning Boston into an island and flooding much of the area. Here is an excerpt from the official report:

The light on the Minot was last seen from Cohasset on Wednesday night at 10 o'clock. At 1 o'clock Thursday morning the light-house bell was heard on shore, one and one-half miles distant... and it was at this hour, it is generally believed, that the light-house was destroyed; at daylight nothing of it was visible from shore.

Two young assistant keepers, Joseph Antoine and Joseph Wilson, were killed. The following day only a few bent pilings were found on the rock.

A granite memorial to Joseph Antoine and Joseph Wilson, the young assistant keepers who lost their lives in 1851.

Today you can visit Government Island and see a replica of the lantern room of Minot's Light sitting on top of some of the granite blocks removed from the lighthouse during the renovation finished in 1989.



The third-order Fresnel lens once used in the lighthouse can be seen inside the replica lantern.



A fog bell is also on display; it was restored by local fisherman Herb Jason and his grandson John Small. Herb Jason had rescued the bell several years ago when it was about to be used for scrap.







Reference: Minot's Ledge Light

Scituate Lighthouse, 1811

In the year 1810 the United States Congress voted $4000 to build a lighthouse at Scituate Harbor. The Light, of split granite blocks with a one and one half story house attached, was activated in 1811.


Scituate Lighthouse on foggy day

Captain Simeon Bates, the first keeper of Scituate Lighthouse, his wife, and nine children lived at the house. During the War of 1812 Abigail and Rebecca, young daughters of the lighthouse keeper, prevented the British from sacking the town. Noting the approach of two redcoat-filled barges from a British ship of war, the girls snatched fife and drum and hiding behind a thick cluster of cedar trees made such a din that the British mistook them for an entire regiment and made a hasty retreat. Abigail and Rebecca Bates have gone down in history as 'The American Army of Two" and their courageous act has been recorded in many textbooks and story books.



Due to complaints from mariners that the light could not be seen from far enough away to make proper heading adjustments, the government added fifteen feet in height to the tower in 1827, mortaring red brick on top of the granite blocks. The light was deactivated in 1860 with the construction of the new Minot’s Light to the north, and the lantern room removed. A minor beacon was kept at the end of the breakwater extending to the south from Cedar Point.



In 1916 the Town of Scituate purchased the lighthouse for $1000 from the federal government, saving it from public auction. In 1930 the Town built a new lantern room atop the light, justifying it, even during the first year of the Great Depression, by stating that "a community is judged by the condition of its public buildings; therefore the lighthouse should be well kept and in pleasing looking condition."



In 1968 Town Meeting awarded custody and administration of the Lighthouse to the Scituate Historical Society, and in 1994 the light was relit for the first time in 134 years. In 2001 the Scituate Historical Society completed the Scituate Lighthouse Runway Exhibit, more than twenty graphic panels on the history of the lighthouse lining the walkway from the house to the tower.




Scituate Lighthouse and my bike

Reference: Scituate Lighthouse