{"nrhp_refnum":"76000289","name":"Baker's Island Light Station","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"E of Salem on Baker's Island","address_restricted":false,"city":"Salem","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.53727206550005,"lon":-70.78679470472231,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-11-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Military","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Coast Guard-owned lighthouse station on Bakers Island in outer Salem Harbor, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts. It includes a 1821 stone-and-concrete light tower, two 1878 keepers' dwellings and a 1907 fog signal building.","why_significant":"The station dates to a light first illuminated in 1798 after Congress authorized it in 1796, and it served commerce and navigation at the entrance to Salem Harbor. The form also recounts that a keeper piloted the frigate Constitution to safety during the War of 1812. The light is described as a scenic view in outer Salem Harbor.","narrative":"Bakers Island Light Station sits on an island in outer Salem Harbor, Massachusetts, and has guided vessels since 1798. A group of Salem men erected a daytime marker there in 1791, Congress authorized a light in 1796, and the first keeper lit it on January 3, 1798. The present white conical tower of stone and concrete, 59 feet high, dates from 1821. Two wood-frame keepers' dwellings were built in 1878 and improved in 1958, and a brick fog signal building followed in 1907. The station figures in several episodes recorded in its history. During the War of 1812, Keeper Joseph Perkins is said to have rowed out and piloted the frigate Constitution into Salem Harbor while two British warships chased it. In 1817 one of the two original lights was ordered extinguished, and ships were wrecked on the rocks before it was restored in 1820. The light is now automated and unattended, and it is regarded as a scenic view in the harbor.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Automated and unattended light; the form marks the status as unoccupied, with condition fair and the property altered but on its original site.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.492082-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/80/7901/63790180/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/76000289.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000289/057919481a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000289/057919481a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"US Coast Guard","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bakers_Island_Lighthouse_MA_c1925.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">US Coast Guard</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bakers_Island_Lighthouse_MA_c1925.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790180","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakers_Island_Light","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4849264"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/bakers-island-light-station-76000289/"}