Nobska Light 

Woods Hole, Massachusetts

Nobska ("Nobsque") Light is located at the southwestern tip of Cape Cod, between Buzzard's Bay and Vineyard Sound. The first lighthouse on the site was built in 1828. The original structure was a design common at the time - a light installed flawed, as the stress of the heavy lantern room on the roof caused it to leak.

In 1876, the original structure was replaced with a 42-foot high structure of cast iron shell lined with brick. A fifth-order Fresnel lens was installed in the new light. The new tower was painted red, and keeper's house was dark maroon-brown. In 1888 the lens was upgraded to fourth-order. A second keeper's house was built in 1907. In 1939 the Coast Guard took control of the site, and repainted the keeper's house in classic Coast Guard design - white with a red roof.

The light was automated in 1985, and the two keeper's houses merged. The fourth-order lens is still intact, and houses a 1000-watt lamp. The keeper's house now serves as the quarters for the Commander, Coast Guard Group Woods Hole. The light has the distinction of appearing red from the east, due to a red section on the east side of the lantern house. This phenomenon warns ships away from the Hedge Fence and L'Hommedieu Shoals south of the Cape.

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