{"nrhp_refnum":"87001527","name":"Beacon, The","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Nauset Beach","address_restricted":false,"city":"Eastham","county":"Barnstable County","state":"MA","lat":41.84518586300004,"lon":-69.95103013099998,"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":["national","state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, cylindrical wood-frame lighthouse tower built in 1892 with an attached one-story cottage added in 1923, one of the \"Three Sisters of Nauset\" in Eastham, Barnstable County, Massachusetts.","why_significant":"The tower was built in 1892 as one of three portable wooden towers that replaced an 1838 trio of brick towers, designed to be movable because the Nauset bluffs shift. It is described as part of the only example of a triple light, an early, simple technological way to tell neighboring lights apart. It retains integrity of materials and workmanship and is tied to the development of aids to navigation in Massachusetts.","narrative":"Known as The Beacon, this shingled wooden lighthouse tower in Eastham, Massachusetts, was built in 1892 as one of three towers called the Three Sisters of Nauset. The cylindrical two-story tower has diagonal lapstrake construction, painted white shingles, and nine Italianate brackets under its balcony. A one-story cottage was attached in 1923, when the tower was moved to the parking lot at Nauset Beach. The three wooden towers replaced a trio of brick towers from 1838 and were designed to be portable because the Nauset bluffs shift. The group is described as the only example of a triple light, an early, simple way to distinguish lights that stood close together. Later, a revolving mechanism allowed all three signals to be combined in one tower. The National Park Service acquired the property in 1975 for Cape Cod National Seashore. Its lantern house is missing, and it awaits relocation and restoration.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate wooden brackets support the balcony; no overall style is stated.","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as inactive and unmanned. The lantern house has been removed. The National Park Service plans to relocate and restore it, but those plans are not finalized.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.146969-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/65/7891/63789165/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/87001527.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001527/d5c40eb240-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001527/d5c40eb240-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Three_Sisters_Lights.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia</a>, <a href=\"http://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:Three_Sisters_Lights.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789165","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_of_Nauset","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7797819"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/barnstable-county/beacon-the-87001527/"}