|
 Three Sisters Lit the Way - Orleans, MA Posted by:  Lat34North
N 41° 51.544 W 069° 57.429
19T E 420556 N 4634571
These three lighthouses were part of the Nauset Beach Light Station, which originally stood a quarter mile away. Located on Cable Road on a path about 1/4 mile from the current Nauset Lighthouse.
Waymark Code: WMMN7D
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 10/13/2014
Views: 5
These three lighthouses were part of the Nauset Beach Light Station, which originally stood a quarter mile away, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Nicknamed the Three Sisters, this trio of lights provided a landmark for sailors making their way along the Outer Cape from 1838 to 1911. Changing lighthouse technology and the steady erosion of the Nauset cliffs eventually forced the removal of the lights from their post. They were reunited here in 1989 - a rare surviving example of a triple lighthouse configuration.
These lights, which replaced original brick towers, were part of a network along the treacherous and busy Cape Cod coast. Ships approaching the southern Cape saw the stationary beams of the twin Chatham Lighthouses. The Three Sisters' triple light configuration told sailors that they had reached the Cape's mid-point. Sailors knew they were nearing the Cape's tip when the saw the single flashing beam of Highland Light.
As lighthouse technology evolved, twin and triple lighthouses were replaced by single lighthouses with unique patterns of flashing lights and colors. While the Three Sisters no longer light the way for ships at sea, Nauset Light continues the tradition today.
[captions - right-hand column]
Early Cape Cod Lighthouses
Before the advent of unique patterns of flashing lights and colors, sailors could determine their position along the outer Cape by the number of lighthouses different locations.
The Nauset Beach light station in its original location on the Nauset Cliffs at the turn of the 20th century.
Agency Responsible for Placement: National Park Service
Agency Responsible for Placement (if not in list above): N/A
County: Barnstable
City/Town Name: Orleans
Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]
Year Placed: Not listed
|
Visit Instructions:
When logging a Massachusetts Historic Marker, we ask that you not only describe your visit, but to upload a picture from it. The picture does not have to be of the marker - one picture of the marker is enough. But a photo of you standing next to the marker or a photograph the subject of the marker - those are examples of possible photographs to upload.
|