1872: A Cape Cod Lighthouse First Goes into Service

November 20, 1872

In Massachusetts, Wood End Light in Provincetown on Cape Cod first went into service.  The 39-foot (12-meter)-tall brick lighthouse, which serves as a navigational aid for vessels approaching Provincetown Harbor, is specifically situated near the southernmost extremity of a curving section of land known as the Provincetown Spit.

There had long been demands for building a lighthouse at that site to warn vessels to keep clear of the often treacherous Wood End bar (an elevated sediment ridge protruding above the water). The decision to finally authorize construction of this sought-after lighthouse came only after a notably egregious maritime tragedy took place in the area in November 1871. In recounting this incident in an 1895 article, the Boston Globe reported that “the schooner William H. Atwood of Wellfleet, bound from Virginia to Boston, after a hard struggle in getting around the cape, and when within a few minutes’ sail of perfect safety in the harbor, struck on the bar and became a total wreck, and all of her crew perished, not one of the bodies ever being found.”     

Wood End Light’s first keeper was Thomas Lowe, who remained in that job for a quarter-century. Over the years, he achieved considerable acclaim for his lifesaving work. One of Lowe’s more challenging rescue missions occurred in March 1882, and it involved a mud-digger (a boat used for purposes such as dredging the bottom of rivers) and four scows (small-sized barges) that were being towed to Provincetown Harbor by a tugboat. A southeast gale and snowstorm in the region wreaked havoc on the tugboat’s towline.

The Boston Globe described what happened next. This newspaper reported, “The towline parted, and the fleet being close to the bar, with weather bad and darkness prevailing, the tug could not recover her tow, and was obliged to leave it to the mercy of the wind and waves.”

The Boston Globe then detailed the daunting task that Lowe faced in trying to save those who were on board the mud-digger and scows. “The surf being frightful, and the night very dark, the work of rescuing the men was impossible by the keeper alone,” reported this newspaper. “He hurried through the storm to the distant town, obtained assistance, and ere the dawn all hands and saved.” Lowe’s leadership and heroic efforts that night earned him a silver medal from the Massachusetts Humane Society.

Wood End Light became automated in 1961. Two decades, this structure made the record books as the first lighthouse in Massachusetts to be outfitted to use solar energy to power the light and fog signal equipment. The Wood End Light and the nearby keeper’s house built in 1896 were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on Wood End Light, please check out  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_End_Light and http://www.newenglandlighthouses.net/wood-end-light-history.html