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The sturdy, bright red cast-iron tower on Cape Cod’s South Monomoy Island is probably one of the least-seen lighthouses of the Bay State; it seems to be “off the radar” even for many ardent lighthouse buffs. The tower and accompanying keeper’s house have seen little change since they were first constructed, and a visit to the windswept, dune-studded island is like a step back in time.
Monomoy was once a peninsula some eight miles or so in length, reaching southward from Chatham at the elbow of Cape Cod’s flexed arm. The peninsula was first separated from the mainland around 1800. It was later rejoined, and separated again by winter storms in 1958.
The island once had a thriving fishing community known as Whitewash Village. The village’s fishermen caught cod and mackerel in nearby waters, and also had easy access to plentiful lobsters. A destructive storm helped bring an end to Whitewash Village in the 1860s.
Monomoy is at the dividing line between Nantucket Sound, to the west, and the deeper, colder Atlantic Ocean to the east. Where the sound and ocean meet — east and south of Monomoy — dangerous “rips” occur where rapid ocean waves pass over shallow shoals and bars. Several lightships were stationed in the vicinity over the years to aid the considerable shipping traffic passing through the area.
Congress appropriated $3,000 for Monomoy’s first lighthouse — the fifth on Cape Cod-on March 3, 1823. The station consisted of a wooden tower and iron lantern on the roof of a brick dwelling;
its fixed white light was established on November 1, 1823. Poor construction and problems with leaks led to the rebuilding of the station in 1849.
The 40-foot cast-iron tower erected in 1849 was one of the first cast-iron lighthouses in the United States. Among surviving American lighthouse towers of this type, only Juniper Island Lighthouse (1846) on Lake Champlain, Vermont, and Biloxi Lighthouse (1848) in Mississippi are older. Monomoy’s lighthouse has been painted a distinctive red since 1882.
Dozens of keepers came and went through the station’s history. James P. Smith, a native of Copenhagen and a former assistant keeper at Boston Light, became keeper in 1899. His wife died early in his stay at Monomoy, but Smith had three daughters — aged 24, 17, and 13 at the time of a 1904 article — who assisted him in his duties. The oldest daughter, Annie, acted as housekeeper and tended the light when her father was away.
A reporter once asked the Smith sisters if life at the lighthouse was lonely. Annie replied, “Oh, no! We don’t have time to be lonesome. There is always something to do, with the housekeeping and the light.” The place was immaculate, according to the reporter, who commented, “Even the stove shines like a new dollar.”
With the opening of the Cape Cod Canal in 1914, traffic past Monomoy decreased. The light was discontinued in 1923, the fourth-order Fresnel lens was removed, and the property passed into private hands. The first owner was George Dunbar of Chatham, who paid $500.
The last private owners sold the buildings to the Massachusetts Audubon Society in 1964. The property came under the management of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in the 1970s. Today, the former peninsula is divided into two islands, North Monomoy and South Monomoy. North Monomoy, South Monomoy, and Morris Island comprise the 2,750-acre Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge.
In 1988, the USFWS hired K&K Painting of Baltimore to carry out a major overhaul of the lighthouse and keeper’s house. K&K replaced glass and repainted the tower, re-sided the dwelling, rebuilt a deck, installed new windows and doors, built a new stairway to the basement, and revamped the closets.
Also in 1988, the USFWS announced a partnership with the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. For a number of years, museum personnel took birdwatchers and lighthouse buffs on trips to the property, with some groups spending the night in the keeper’s house. The overnight trips are no longer offered.
The ever-shifting contours of South Monomoy have left acres of sand between the lighthouse and the shore, leading some to liken it to a “minaret in the Sahara.” By the early twenty-first century, the condition of the buildings was again deteriorating. Because of a lack of funding and the remote location, only minor repairs have been completed in recent years.
After leaks in the keeper’s house caused some interior damage, the building was partially re-roofed in 2005 and a new ventilation system was installed. According to refuge director Mike Brady, major USFWS funding is slated for 2010 that will pay for a thorough restoration of the house and tower.
For more information on the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, call (508) 945-0594 or see www.fws.gov/northeast/monomoy/
on the Web.
This story appeared in the
December 2006 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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