Twin Lights Historic District-Cape Ann Light Station

Thacher's Island, about a mile off Rockport on Cape Ann, carries two circular granite lighthouse towers, each 124 feet tall, built in 1860-61. The battered stone walls have slit windows lighting the interior stairs, two balconies at the top, and a one-story brick entrance building at the base of each tower. A few late 19th century wooden houses stand near the southeast light. The island is named for Anthony Thacher, who survived a 1635 shipwreck that killed his children and others. Massachusetts authorized twin lights in 1771, and the original 45-foot towers were first lit that December. The federal government took them over in 1789, and Congress funded their rebuilding in 1859. The nomination states they are the last twin lights in the United States. The north tower went out of use in 1932, while the southeast tower remains active with an electric light visible for 19 miles. Both towers appear on Rockport's town seal.