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 Pushed Back by the Sea - Cape Cod National Seashore - Orleans, MA Posted by:  Lat34North
N 41° 51.618 W 069° 57.173
19T E 420911 N 4634704
Today Nauset Light is preserved and interpreted by the Nauset Light Preservation Society, a group of committed local people who keep this important story alive for visitors. Located at the intersection of Cable Rd and Nauset Light Beach Rd.
Waymark Code: WMMN7B
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 10/13/2014
Views: 3
Both the lighthouse standing here and the cliff in front of you have had to give away to the power of the Atlantic Ocean.
The first lighthouses built here in 1838 were placed over 600 feet east of where you are standing now. As ocean waves ate away at the base of the cliffs, causing erosion rates averaging three feet per year, the original beacons had to be replaced with three wooden towers set father back from the edge.
In less than two decades, the cliffs approached the wooden lighthouses, so one of the towers was pulled further back and attached to the lighthouse keeper's house. In 1923, a cast-iron lighthouse - the current Nauset Light - was brought to the site from Chatham and set well back from the advancing shoreline.
The main photo shows Nauset Light as it stood in 1996, when less than 40 feet remained between the light and the eroding cliff edge. That year, the lighthouse moved again, across the road to its current site. Today Nauset Light is preserved and interpreted by the Nauset Light Preservation Society, a group of committed local people who keep this important story alive for visitors.
[captions - right-hand column]
the three beacons in eastern ham differentiated him the single light in any two lights in Chatham. The tower shown here, erected in 1892, were known as the “Three Sisters.” They now stand 1/3 miles away off Cable Road.
A rotating for now lands allowed Nauset light station to change to a single beacon in 1911. Notice the round brick foundation under the tower. It can be seen on the beach in the main photo in a still sometimes visible at low tide.
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
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