Cape Cod - Lighthouses of Cape Cod

Lighthouses of Cape Cod

Due to its dangerous constantly moving shoals, Cape Cod's shores have featured beacons which warn ships of the danger since very early in its history. There are numerous working lighthouses on Cape Cod and the Islands, including Highland Light, Nauset Light, Chatham Light, Race Point Light, and Nobska Light, mostly operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. The exception is Nauset Light, which was decommissioned in 1996 and is now maintained by the Nauset Light Preservation Society under the auspices of Cape Cod National Seashore. These lighthouses are frequently photographed symbols of Cape Cod.

Lighthouses, from ancient times, have fascinated members of the human race. There is something about a lighted beacon that suggests hope and trust and appeals to the better instincts of mankind.

“ ” Edward Rowe Snow

Other lighthouses include:

  • Upper Cape: Wing's Neck Light (privately owned)
  • Mid Cape: Sandy Neck Light, Hyannis Harbor Light, Lewis Bay Light (or Hyannis Inner Harbor Light, also private), Bishop and Clerks Light, West Dennis Light (formerly the Bass River Light)
  • Lower Cape: Wood End Light, Long Point Light, Monomoy Point Light, Stage Harbor Light, Mayo Beach Light, Billingsgate Island Light, Three Sisters of Nauset, Chatham Light, Highland Light

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Famous quotes containing the words cape cod, lighthouses of, lighthouses and/or cape:

    “Wishing to get a better view than I had yet had of the ocean, which, we are told, covers more than two thirds of the globe, but of which a man who lives a few miles inland may never see any trace, more than of another world, I made a visit to Cape Cod.... But having come so fresh to the sea, I have got but little salted.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “The whole fauna of human fantasies, their marine vegetation, drifts and luxuriates in the dimly lit zones of human activity, as though plaiting thick tresses of darkness. Here, too, appear the lighthouses of the mind, with their outward resemblance to less pure symbols. The gateway to mystery swings open at the touch of human weakness and we have entered the realms of darkness. One false step, one slurred syllable together reveal a man’s thoughts.”
    —Louis Aragon (1897–1982)

    “The whole fauna of human fantasies, their marine vegetation, drifts and luxuriates in the dimly lit zones of human activity, as though plaiting thick tresses of darkness. Here, too, appear the lighthouses of the mind, with their outward resemblance to less pure symbols. The gateway to mystery swings open at the touch of human weakness and we have entered the realms of darkness. One false step, one slurred syllable together reveal a man’s thoughts.”
    —Louis Aragon (1897–1982)

    “Round the cape of a sudden came the sea,
    And the sun looked over the mountain’s rim:
    And straight was a path of gold for him,
    And the need of a world of men for me.”
    —Robert Browning (1812–1889)