{"nrhp_refnum":"80000433","name":"Palmer Island Light Station","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"New Bedford Harbor","address_restricted":false,"city":"New Bedford","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.62609014000003,"lon":-70.90933295899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-03-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small masonry lighthouse tower on Palmer's Island in New Bedford Harbor, Massachusetts, built in 1849 by contractor Charles M. Pierce for the U.S. government. A dike links it to the island's shore.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant for its historical association with New Bedford's whaling-era maritime prosperity and for its architecture as one of the few early 19th-century lighthouses remaining in the United States. Its appearance on the city seal and its largely original 1849 form after later additions were lost add to its importance.","narrative":"Palmer Island Light is a 24-foot rubble masonry lighthouse tower on an island in New Bedford Harbor, built in 1849 by Charles M. Pierce for about $1,951. It was constructed when New Bedford was the leading home port of the whaling fleet, and it guided harbor traffic for nearly a century. A keeper's house, boathouse and other buildings once stood on the island, and a dike carried a walkway to the tower. The 1938 hurricane destroyed the keeper's house, and the light was automated in 1941. The Army Corps of Engineers bought the property in 1962, and a 1966 fire set by vandals gutted the tower and removed later wooden additions. What remains closely reflects the 1849 form, including the tower, an iron lantern frame possibly dating from 1863 or earlier, and the damaged dike. The lighthouse also appears on the New Bedford city seal. The city has expressed interest in restoring it as part of a park.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Charles M. Pierce","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as deteriorated and unoccupied: gutted by a 1966 vandal-set fire, with the lantern frame displaced and the dike damaged. The keeper's house was destroyed by the 1938 hurricane.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.310616-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/21/7896/63789621/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/80000433.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000433/de3d83debb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000433/de3d83debb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Schlitzer90","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palmer_Island_Light.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Schlitzer90</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palmer_Island_Light.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789621","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_Island_Light","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7128244"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/palmer-island-light-station-80000433/"}