Tarpaulin Cove Lighthouse

Year Built

1818

Cost

$6,062.11

Type

Cylindrical

Height

28 feet

Location

Naushon Island Gosnold

Automated Year

1941

First Lit

1891

Lens Type

Fifth order Fresnel lens (1856), 4th order Fresnel lens (1891), 12 inches (300 mm) (current)

Fog Signal

Bell 1891-1938

Year Deactivated

Active

Color

White with black lantern

Last Keeper - Date

Tolman W. Spencer (at least 1928 – 1941)

Description

A brick tower with attached workroom and the public is not allowed to land on the island.

Brief History

•  In 1759 Zaccheus Lumbert, who ran the local tavern, established a light on Naushon Island for the “public good of the Whalemen and Coasters”. For nearly six decades the light was maintained.
•  In 1856, during Nathan Clifford’s term as keeper, a fifth-order Fresnel lens was purchased from Sautter and Company of Paris, for 2604.5 francs.
•  In 1871, Keeper Richard Norton obtained his position after the Confederate raider Alabama sank the square-rigger he captained and partially owned.
•  By 1891 the lighthouse needed to be replaced. A 28-foot brick tower was built with a conventional cast iron lantern.
•  In August 2001, a three-year effort by the Cuttyhunk Historical Society and the Naushon Trust to become caretakers of Tarpaulin Cove Lighthouse won a twenty-five-year license for the tower from the Coast Guard.