Rounding Resilient Brant Point

Yesterday was a beautiful day for my first venture out this summer in our trust little Whaler, the Salty Sue. We inherited the boat's name from the previous owner from whom we purchased it last year. We heard it was bad luck to change a vessel's name so we kept it intact. Last summer as we were first offloading the boat at our now regular spot by Children's Beach, a stranger nearby asked me if my name was Sue and then they broke out in a big grin. I didn't make the connection right away but then figured it out and guess if I had spewed forth a string of &*>@$* expletives, he would have been satisfied that I was indeed the boat's salty talking namesake.

It was good to see the landmark Brant Point lighthouse up close again yesterday from the vantage point of the smaller boat rather than the ferry. Traditionally, visitors who are leaving Nantucket on the ferry throw a penny off the boat as they round Brant Point lighthouse and make a wish for a safe return home. And if they're travelling in the winter months when the seas are raging and the winds are blowing the ferry from side to side, believe me, you're glad you tossed that penny off the side before heading to Hyannis!

I have always loved doing watercolors of the lighthouse scene over the years and have appreciated the lighthouse in an artistic sense but never truly appreciated its history until now. I now have a true respect for Brant Point now that I've done some research into its provenance.

According to New England Lighthouses: A Virtual Guide, NINE different lighthouse structures have stood at Brant Point the years, not including a bonfire on a hogshead (barrel) that was said to be in use as early as 1700! It is America's second oldest light station, after Boston Light (1716).

The plan for the first Brant Point Lighthouse was conceived at a town meeting in January 1746, when the merchants and mariners of Sherburne, as the town was then called, voted to erect a lighthouse there to mark the point around which all vessels passed as they entered the island's inner harbor.

Three men were assigned the duty of building the structure with a budget of 200 English pounds. The keeping of the light in the first lighthouse was left to the ship owners. No detailed description survives of the wooden 1746 lighthouse, which burned down in 1757 -- probably the result of an oil fire.

The second light, also made of wood, was destroyed in a storm in March 1774. The storm, probably a tornado, also destroyed many buildings on the island. A third Brant Point Light was paid for by a tax on shipping coming into the area. All vessels of 15 tons or more were charged six shillings at the time of their first coming or going each year.

In 1783 the lighthouse burned down again. A new light was erected, no more than a lantern hoisted up between two spars. This structure burned down in 1786. The fifth lighthouse lasted only two years before it was destroyed by a storm.

The next lighthouse, built by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1788, was ceded to the federal government in 1795, the same year the town changed its name from Sherburne to Nantucket. The light was extinguished during the War of 1812.

By the 1820s, over 200 Nantucket whaling ships were in service and a new, more efficient lighthouse was called for. A new Brant Point Light was built in 1825 at a cost of $1,600. The tower was situated on top of the keeper's house. The lighting apparatus consisted of eight lamps and reflectors.

In 1856, the station was rebuilt at a cost of $15,000, this time a 47-foot brick tower was built along with a new brick keeper's house. The tower received a fourth-order Fresnel lens showing a fixed red light. This lighthouse still stands, west of the present Brant Point Light, minus its lantern room. It is part of U.S. Coast Guard Station Brant Point.

The present Brant Point Light was built 596 feet east of the previous one in 1901 and fitted with a fifth order Fresnel lens. Its white light was changed to red in 1933 to avoid confusion with house lights. The lighthouse originally had a 1,000 pound fog bell. An oil house was added in 1904.

Soon after it was built, the new Brant Point Light was threatened by the sea, so 500 tons of riprap were placed around the beach. The white light at Brant Point was changed to red in 1933 to avoid confusion with nearby house lights. The light was automated in 1965.

In 1983, the entire Brant Point Station complex was renovated by the Coast Guard and in the fall of 2000, a complete overhaul of the lighthouse was undertaken. Brant Point Light's occulting red light is 26 feet above sea level, making it one of the lowest of New England's lights. It is seen by thousands of people each year as they enter and leave Nantucket on ferries from the mainland.

The dictionary should include Brant Point Lighthouse as one of its definitions for the word "resilient!" What a great landmark for the island and New England!