Graves Light

Graves Light

NPS Photo | JM Lampley

Quick Facts

Location:

Boston Harbor

OPEN TO PUBLIC:

No

MANAGED BY:

Graves Light is privately owned

The Graves are located in the outer northeast corner of the Boston Harbor at approximately 11 miles away from Boston. Rocky outcroppings surround the island. They sit at 15 feet above sea level at high tide, making them a dangerous peril to passing ships.  

In 1843, IWP Lewis, Civil Engineer to the US Lighthouse Survey, expressed surprise that there was no navigational aid on The Graves. A series of signal buoys previously warned sailors of the danger, but when the area became a new major shipping lane for larger vessels in the early 1900s, a lighthouse on The Graves became more necessary.¹ 

Congress appropriated $188,000 for the construction of a new lighthouse. Construction began in 1903, with lighthouse builder Royal Luther in charge. Granite was cut from Cape Anne in Rockport to build the tower. The seven-ton interlocking stones forming the first 40 feet, are pinned to each other and the ledge with heavy wrought-iron spikes. Standing at 113 feet tall, Graves Light is the tallest light in the harbor. 

On September 1, 1905, Keeper Elliott C. Hadley lit the brightest light north of Cape Cod for the first time. The helical glass lantern at the top is cast from 44,000 lbs of bronze and originally housed a Fresnel lens of the first order, the pinnacle of illumination technology for much of the last two centuries. Created by French physicist Augustin Fresnel (Freh-nel), these lenses revolutionized maritime navigation. Using a series of cut and angled prisms to better refract and reflect light, what was once 60-80% of light lost in a beacon was lowered to less than 20%. A first-order lens is the largest in the series as it is used to indicate to mariners the entrance of the harbor. With a height of 12 feet, a diameter of 7 feet, and sitting atop a bed of liquid mercury, Graves Light ensured the safe navigation of vessels through the area surrounding The Graves.²

Even with this technology, disaster still struck over the following decades. In 1938, the 419-foot steamer The City of Salisbury crashed into a reef due to inaccurate depth charts not far from The Graves. Aboard was a cargo of animals ranging from pythons and cobras to monkeys and 20 crates of rare birds. The ship eventually split in two, and while no human life was lost aboard the "Zoo Ship," most of the animals were saved, (although decades later, a monkey skeleton was reportedly found on one of the other harbor islands.) The Salisbury eventually sank and parts of it were raised and sold as scrap.³ 

Over the years, other changes occurred at Graves Light Station. The Fresnel lens and the mercury housing began to deteriorate over time. Automation eventually replaced the three-person crew at the lighthouse. The Fresnel lens and mercury housing deteriorated over time to warrant replacement. In 1976, this magnificent first-order Fresnel lens became replaced by a modern, VRB 25 lamp. The original lens was taken away to be placed in storage at the Smithsonian Institution.⁴

In 2012, Graves Light Station was declared Federal Surplus and offered free to surrounding towns and nonprofits. Finding no takers, it was sold at a federal auction to a Boston businessman, Dave and Lynn Waller, for nearly $1 million dollars in September of 2013. Since then, the Wallers have been dedicated to the preservation and restoration of this historic lighthouse structure. The rusty iron pier and stairs were sandblasted and painted; floors, walls and ceilings were rebuilt; and a functional bathroom and kitchen were installed in the tower. Part of the extensive restoration includes the installment of a Fresnel lens constructed from scavenged pieces of Australian lenses built between 1880 and 1920.⁵ After 9 years of collecting pieces, the island's private owners were able to assemble and install the new Fresnel lens in August 2023.⁶

---

Footnotes 

1. Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Cultural Landscape Report: Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park, Volume 2: Existing Conditions, 71-72; "Graves Light Station," United States Coast Guard, August 27, 2019, https://www.history.uscg.mil/Browse-by-Topic/Assets/Land/All/Article/1944393/graves-light-station/; Jeremy D'Entremont, "History of Graves Light, Boston Harbor, Massachusetts," New England Lighthouses: A Virtual Guide, Accessed March 31, 2023, http://www.newenglandlighthouses.net/graves-light-history.html.
2. Edward Snow, The Islands of the Boston Harbor (Carlisle, MA: Commonwealth Editions, 2002), 195; D’Entremont, "History of Graves Light, Boston Harbor, Massachusetts;" Sally R. Snowman, Ph.D. and James G. Thomson, Boston Light: A Historical Perspective (United States: Flagship Press, 1999), 122-24.
3. "City of Salisbury (1938)," Graves Light Station, Accessed April 3, 2023, http://graveslightstation.com/shipwrecks-graves-light/city-of-salisbury-1938/.
4. "Fun Facts," Graves Light Station, Accessed March 31, 2023, http://graveslightstation.com/about-graves-light-boston/fun-facts/.
5. "About Graves Light," Graves Light Station, Accessed March 31, 2023 http://graveslightstation.com/about-graves-light-boston/. 
6. Emily Sweeney, "A piece of lighthouse history returns to Graves Light in Boston Harbor," Boston Globe, August 25, 2023.