{"nrhp_refnum":"87002041","name":"Graves Light Station","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"N of Hull in the Massachusetts Bay","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hull","county":"Plymouth County","state":"MA","lat":42.36508046400007,"lon":-70.86915492799994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-09-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation","Architecture","Maritime History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A round granite lighthouse tower on Graves Ledge off Boston Harbor, in Hull, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, built in 1903-1905 by lighthouse builder Royal Luther of Malden, Massachusetts.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the station as an aid to navigation that once had the most powerful beam in Massachusetts, at 380,000 candlepower. It also records the light's role in several shipwrecks and rescues nearby, including the 1938 loss of the City of Salisbury, described as the most spectacular shipping disaster in Boston Harbor history.","narrative":"Graves Light is a round granite tower on Graves Ledge, marking the approach to Boston Harbor from the waters off Hull, Massachusetts. Lighthouse builder Royal Luther of Malden supervised construction in 1903. Granite was cut at Cape Ann, work at the ledge began on 1 June 1903, and the first stone was landed on 11 August. The first lens came from Paris, and the station was ready to operate by midsummer 1905. A granite oil house with a connecting footbridge was added to the south. Inside, the tower is arranged in stages, with a cistern, an engine room for the fog horn, a kitchen, a bunk room, a library and watch room, and the light mechanism beneath the lantern. At one time its beam, at 380,000 candlepower, was the strongest in Massachusetts. The light stands near the site of several wrecks, including the City of Salisbury in 1938 and the Mary E. O'Hara in 1941. The ledge was named for Thomas Graves, an early colonial trader.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Royal Luther","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as fair condition, unaltered and on its original site; the light has been automated. The form marks the property as unoccupied and owned by the U.S. Coast Guard.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.174687-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/36/7927/63792736/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/87002041.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87002041/34e634dc57-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87002041/34e634dc57-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Graves_Light,_Boston_(493403)_(10772613144).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Graves_Light,_Boston_(493403)_(10772613144).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792736","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Graves_Light","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14537875"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/plymouth-county/graves-light-station-87002041/"}