{"nrhp_refnum":"87001464","name":"Gay Head Light","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"15 Aquinnah Cir.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Aquinnah","county":"Dukes County","state":"MA","lat":41.35074585600006,"lon":-70.83790445899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-06-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation","Architecture","Maritime History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Brick lighthouse tower built in 1856 on the cliffs at the western end of Martha's Vineyard in Gay Head (now Aquinnah), Dukes County, Massachusetts. It is 45'8\" tall with a brownstone band and an iron lens room.","why_significant":"The tower is the most conspicuous historic structure in the town and marks Devil's Bridge rocks, the south shore shoals and the entrance to Vineyard Sound. When built it was considered one of the ten most important lights on the Atlantic Coast and was equipped with one of the first Fresnel lenses in the country. It retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials and workmanship.","narrative":"Gay Head Light is a brick lighthouse completed in 1856 on the red clay cliffs at the western end of Martha's Vineyard. Built for $15,000, the tower is 45 feet 8 inches tall and 17 feet 6 inches in diameter. A band of brownstone blocks girdles its middle, and an iron lens room with floor-to-ceiling glazing sits at the top, closely resembling the design of Highland Light in Truro. Inside, a spiral cast-iron staircase winds around a central core. The light warns vessels away from the Devil's Bridge rocks and the south shore shoals and guides traffic into Vineyard Sound. It was considered one of the ten most important lights on the Atlantic Coast and first held a first-order Fresnel lens. Operation became unmanned in 1956, and the keeper's house and other buildings were removed by 1961, leaving the tower alone. It was listed for its role in the development of navigation aids and for its architecture.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Unmanned and active; the 1856 tower is the only remaining structure, as the keeper's house and Coast Guard buildings were demolished in 1959 and 1961.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.26916-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/97/7897/63789797/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/87001464.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001464/13a2ccdadf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001464/13a2ccdadf-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Williamwaterway","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gay_Head_Lighthouse_at_New_Location_-_June,_2015.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Williamwaterway</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:Gay_Head_Lighthouse_at_New_Location_-_June,_2015.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789797","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_Head_Light","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5528593"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/dukes-county/gay-head-light-87001464/"}