This Place Matters
America’s oldest lighthouse shines on.
FIRES, STORMS AND BRITISH TROOPS have damaged the Boston Light lighthouse since it was built in 1716, but it still stands today as the country’s oldest continually used and last-staffed lighthouse. Rising from the shoreline of Little Brewster Island, the lighthouse was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.
Candles lit the original structure, which was electrified in 1948 and automated in 1998. Burned by patriots and blown up by the retreating British during the Revolutionary War, the lighthouse has been rebuilt several times to its present 89 feet of rubblework.
Little Brewster Island opened to the public in 1999. Tours of the island are temporarily suspended as of this writing, but check the website at bostonharborislands.org for updates and information.