page_title: Edgartown Harbor Light
section_title: From bridge to barrier beach
hierarchical_section_title: Edgartown Harbor Light / From bridge to barrier beach
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of the original Edgartown Harbor Light c1830 - a wooden, Cape Cod Style, two-story Keeper's house. In 1830 Congress approved funds for a new lantern room and wooden bridge connecting the lighthouse with nearby waterfront land. From 1828 to 1830, the lighthouse Keeper; his family; guests; and visiting public had to row a short distance to access the lighthouse. This wooden causeway was eventually referred to colloquially as the "Bridge of Sighs." A term that reflected the emotions of island people as they stood on the walkway watching whaling ships depart for voyages that lasted up to five years. As depicted in the photograph, this initial Edgartown lighthouse featured a glass lantern room protruding from the middle of the gabled roof of the Keeper's residence. This lantern room contained a fixed white light that was visible for about 14 miles. The lighthouse in the photograph was destroyed in the Hurricane of 1938. In 1939, the United States Coast Guard demolished the building and installed an 1881 vintage cast-iron tower relocated from Ipswich Rear Range Light.[7] When reconstructed at the mouth of Edgartown Harbor, the relocated conical tower was fitted with the fourth-order Fresnel lens, electrified, and automated.
context_page_description: Edgartown Harbor Light is a lighthouse located in Edgartown, Massachusetts, United States, where it marks the entrance to Edgartown Harbor and Katama Bay. It is one of five lighthouses on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The first lighthouse, a two-story wooden structure that also served as the keeper's house, was constructed in 1828. It was demolished, and replaced by the current cast-iron tower, in 1939. Originally located on an artificial island 1/4 miles from shore, the lighthouse is now surrounded by a beach formed, since 1939, by sand accumulating around the stone causeway connecting it to the mainland.
context_section_description: From the Edgartown lighthouse's initial construction in 1828 until its demise in 1938, the Edgartown Harbor Light was accessible to guests and visiting public. During its first year, the Cape Cod Style two-story Keeper's house with its lighthouse lantern room was accessible only by rowing a boat from nearby waterfront land. In 1830, Congress approved funds to construct a new lantern room along with a wooden bridge for easier access (see photo - right). This wooden causeway eventually became known as the infamous "Bridge of Sighs." In 1847 this wooden bridge was replaced by a rap and stone causeway. Prior to 1830, the lighthouse Keeper; his family; guests; and visiting public had to row a short distance to access the lighthouse. 
  The 1908 USGS topographic map below depicts conditions of the Eel Pond barrier beach located northwest of the Edgartown Light. This same 1908 illustration shows how the Edgartown lighthouse is surrounded by water except for the wooden access causeway. In the 1950s, due to a series of hurricanes, the barrier beach stretching between Eel Pond and Nantucket Sound was destroyed. A large volume of the destabilized Eel Pond barrier beach sand was carried southeasterly by prevailing littoral drift toward the Edgartown Light area. Eventually, the sands dropped out of suspension and created a barrier beach surrounding Edgartown Harbor Light. This so-called "Lighthouse Beach" surrounding Edgartown Harbor Light continues to exist today, and serves as a barrier beach between Nantucket Sound and Lighthouse Pond.  
  As depicted in the photograph to right, the first Edgartown lighthouse (constructed 1828) featured a glass lantern room protruding from the middle of the gabled roof of the Keeper's residence. This lantern room contained a fixed white light that was visible for about 14 miles. This same basic structure, with attached Keeper's house, served as the Edgartown lighthouse from 1828 to 1938.
  In 1938, as a result of the Hurricane of 1938 - the Edgartown Harbor Light was closed to public access due to severe structural damage caused to the lighthouse and its access causeway. In 1939, the new conical cast-iron tower from Ipswich was installed and automated. Due to automation and related removal of the resident lighthouse Keeper, there was no longer a built-in system for accommodating public access. Subsequently, the Edgartown lighthouse was closed to public access from 1938 to 1988. 
  August 1991, Hurricane Bob caused severe damage to the rap and stone public access causeway to the Edgartown Light. VERI initiated restoration of the causeway by raising funds from property owners abutting Lighthouse Pond. VERI board member, Fairleigh S. Dickinson, Jr., who owned a home abutting Lighthouse Pond, was instrumental in organizing donations from his fellow neighbors. The donated funds were applied toward engineering and permitting efforts, as well as structural rebuilding of the causeway. Necessary engineering; permit applications; public hearings; material acquisition, and reconstruction oversight was performed at no cost to VERI or the community by Vineyard Environmental Protection, Inc.(VEP). An important component of the new causeway's engineering design was the addition of a second culvert to facilitate tidal flushing of Lighthouse Pond. The rebuilding of the public access causeway was completed in November 1991.
  October 29, 2012 - storm surge from Hurricane Sandy struck Martha's Vineyard during two full-moon tidal cycles. The photograph to right was taken at approximately 6:00 PM on 29 October 2012 prior to the peak of the 8:30 PM tidal cycle. This photo depicts the Edgartown Harbor Light being surrounded by storm surge flood waters generated during the Hurricane Sandy event. During "normal" conditions, the lighthouse is surrounded by acres of vegetated sandy beach. The hurricane's velocity currents, wave overwash, and flooding caused damage to the lighthouse's public access causeway.
caption: Circa 1830 - Edgartown Harbor Light with new lantern room and rebuilt wooden bridge during time Jeremiah Pease was Principal Keeper.
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