Sisters Light Houses

Sisters Lighthouses

InIn 1837, a lighthouse station was established at Nauset Beach - halfway between the single light at Highland, and the twins at Chatham. To distinguish the Nauset Station, a keeper's house and three small towers of brick were constructed 150 feet apart. This site marked the only station in the U.S. designated by three towers. The three towers were built for $6500, which was $3500 less than the appropriation for the new lighthouses. The low bidder was Winslow Lewis. Apparently shoddy workmanship was the reason Lewis could underbid his competitors. The project overseer at first refused to sign off on the work due to the poor construction. He wrote "the masons...laid the bricks comprising the interior of the wall entirely at random...I detected the masons several times shoveling in sand instead of mortar." Lewis' own nephew, I.W.P. Lewis, criticized the work. He wrote that the "towers were built on sand with no foundations, inferior lime went into the mortar, that bricks were laid without bonding." (West, pp. 12-13, Clark, pp. 84-85) Sixth-order Fresnel lenses replaced Winslow Lewis' reflectors in 1858. Fourth-order lenses were installed in 1873. In 1892, three new movable wooden towers were built to replace the original brick towers. That same year, the brick towers were lost to erosion - one of their bases can still occasionally be seen offshore. (West, pp. 14-15; Clark, pp. 86-87) In 1911, due to the encroaching sea, the central tower was moved back near the keeper's house. The north and south towers were discontinued, due to maintenance costs and the questionable need for three lights instead of a single light with a unique flashing signature. These two towers were sold in 1918 to Mrs. Helen R. Cummings of North Eastham for $3.50. The towers were removed and became part of a summer cottage in 1920. The central tower served until 1923 (three flashes every ten seconds) when the north tower at Chatham was moved to Eastham. The fourth-order lens was transferred to the new tower. The last sister was sold to Albert Hall, who made it part of another summer cottage. (Clark, p. 87, p. 91). According to local residents, the tower also served "as a hamburger stand for hungry beach goers." (West, p. 18) The National Park Service purchased the north and south towers (sans lantern rooms) in 1965, and acquired the central tower in 1975. In 1983, the three towers were moved to a site near Nauset Beach about a quarter mile from their original location. Restoration began in December 1988. According to Jeff Jelniker, NPS project manager during the restoration, the available funding was used to replicate the timber for the tower restoration - there was not enough funding to restore the lantern rooms of the north and south towers. Jelniker recalls that "On several occasions I would hike at lunch in the woods adjacent to the project site and I did come across pieces of the parapet railing of the North or South towers. My guess is that when they were sold the top(s) were just dismantled and discarded in the woods." Work was completed in 1989. The lights were restored in their original configuration - 150 feet apart and approximately 8.5 degrees off north. Directions: From Plymouth - take State Route 6 to Eastham, and turn right (east) on Nauset road. Follow the signs to Nauset lighthouse. There is a large parking area adjacent to the lighthouse, and a walkway down the cliff to Nauset Beach. The Three Sisters Lighthouses are a short walk from Nauset Light. The base of one of the old towers is visible at Nauset Beach during winter months

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