January 25, 1890
The original Deer Island Light at the north entrance of Boston Harbor first went into service. The principal keeper for this lighthouse at the time of its debut was John Farley, with Michael J. Curran serving as the assistant keeper.
This structure — known as a sparkplug lighthouse due to its shape — was specifically installed on a reef extending approximately 1,500 feet (460 meters) south from Deer Island. The site for Deer Island Light had been the location for a “stone beacon” that was set up in 1832. This beacon, which the U.S. Congress authorized in response to a petition from the Boston Marine Society, was a granite pyramid that had been painted red to mark where Boston Harbor empties into the frequently treacherous Broad Sound Bay.
That stone beacon performed its role as a navigational aid for several decades, but inevitably the U.S. Lighthouse Board realized that something more was needed at the location to help guide and protect vessels sailing through the region. “The steamers plying between Boston and the northern ports make use of the Broad Sound channels, and a light and fog-signal at this point are particularly desirable, because of the narrow and devious passages,” the Lighthouse Board concluded in an 1885 report. Congress subsequently provided the funding for what became the first Deer Island Light a few years later.
For more than 90 years after it was first lit, the structure played a key role as a gatekeeper for New England’s largest seaport and its extensive maritime traffic. This lighthouse (featured in the accompanying photo) deteriorated over time, however, and was torn down in 1982. The current version of Deer Island Light was put in place during 2015-16.
Photo Credit: U.S. Coast Guard
Additional information on the original Deer Island Light is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_Island_Light
For more information on lighthouses in northern Massachusetts, please check out https://www.ibiblio.org/lighthouse/ma.htm
Transportation History 
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