Form and Function:
Lighthouses of the Cape and Islands
For three hundred years, Lighthouses have been helping mariners return home safely, including to Cape Cod. This exhibit illuminates their stories, inside and out.
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Featured Artifacts
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Antique Light Keepers' Uniform
US Lighthouse Service
When the Lighthouse Board was abolished in 1910, and replaced by the new US Lightouse Service under the (also new) Commerce and Labor Department, Lighthouse keepers were issued uniforms. The brass buttons were at risk of damaging the glass, so they were also issued aprons.
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Lightkeeper's Brass - Oil Can, Measures, Feeder, Drip Pan, and Funnel
Oil was historically the most expensive part of running a lighthouse. The U.S. government allotted a specific amount to each light station. Keepers needed to account for every drop of oil used and took steps to make sure nothing went to waste. Oil was poured carefully into measures to get the precise amount needed, then added to the lamp feeder. This was all done over the drip tray, which caught any oil that dripped out to use later. Keepers used a funnel to help prevent spills.
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Logbook of Supplies
Tarpaulin Cove Light
Lighthouse Keepers had to keep meticulous record of all their suplies. This marble-cover logbook shows the supplies recieved and consumed by Tarpualin Cove light from the late 1880s to early 1900s.
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Medical Handbook
1912 Medical Handbook for the use of Lighthouse Vessels and Stations
Lighthouses are often in very remote places, and it can be difficult for keepers and their families to get tro or send for a doctor. This handbook gives instructions on how to treat a variety of medical conditions, without leaving your post.
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Polishing Cloth
Linen, Pre-1852
This Linen cloth was issued to a lighthouse keeper with their supplies, and would have been the only thing they were permitted to clean the lens of the light with. Any other fabric was deemed too rough, and scratches to the glass or other reflective surfaces were to be avoided at all costs.
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US Lighthosue Establishment Lightship Penant Flag
This flag would have flown on a Lightship or “Light-Vessel”, for all to see, and there were precise regulations regarding its display in the Keeper’s Instruction Manuals.
Frequently Asked Questions
As a Maritime Museum in the middle of it all, we’re asked about lighthouses A LOT. Here’s some quick answers.
Don’t see your question? Doing some research? Reach out to us at
archives@capecodmaritimemuseum.org
or send us a message this way:
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The Cape and Islands have had as many as 30-35 Lighthouses. Today there are about 28 towers/lantern rooms still extant.
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This is actually a tricky question! The closest lighthouses by distance are either private propety, or a functioning business.
The closest lighthouses you can go IN are Highland Light, in Truro, and Nobska Light in Falmouth. Please check ahead for their hours of operation, costs, and safety information. Other lighthouses farther in Chatham, Eastham, and Provincetown have seasonal hours, or are by appointment only.
The closest lighthouses you can go NEAR are
Chatham Light, in Chatham (an active Coast Guard Station, seasonally may do tours)
Nauset Light in Eastham (private property next a town beach, Seasonally may do tours of the tower)
Three Sisters Lights in Eastham. (NPS Park)
Sandy Neck Light in Barnstable FROM Millway Beach or a vessel like a whalewatch. (private property, difficult to get to by car)
*The lighthouse visible from nearby the museum is not a historic lighthouse. It’s a custom Light on private property.
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While there is no museum with this exact title, the Truro Historical Society’s Highland House Museum, our Cape Cod Maritime Museum, Nobska Light’s Maritime Museum, and the Martha’s Vineyard Musum, as well as other non-profit organizations on the Cape and Islands, have Lighthouse and Lighthouse Keepers/Keeping Collections and Exhibits. We’re happy to point researchers or visitors to where they might best have their questions answered.
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To the best of our knowledge, no. Most Lighthouses have been automated and are managed by the US Coast Guard. Private lights or lights run by non-profits may have someone appointed as ‘keeper’, but in the classic sense of the term, no.
The last official keeper in Massachusetts (and the country) was stationed to Boston Light in Boston Harbor, and she retired in 2023. To our knowledge she has not been replaced.
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When the demand for land-based aids to navigation decreased, and with the advent of many automation technologies, the need for keepers diminished. When the government could get by having a metal skeleton tower with an automated light, Lighthouses were decomissioned. Properties with lighthouses on them were sold to private citizens (as was the case with Sandy Neck and Hyannis Light).
If they still needed the light to be active, rather than expend the time, funds, and energy to maintain so many locations, the US Coast Guard began a program in the 1990s to lease the stations (including still-active ones) to local historical societies, museums, Friends’ societies, and private citizens.