Digest>Archives> February 2001

Graves Light: Granite Guardian of Boston’s Outer Harbor

By Jeremy D'Entremont

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The walkway from the tower at Graves Light to the ...

Weather-beaten Graves Lighthouse, flashing white two times every 12 seconds in the outer limits of Boston Harbor, looks to the unknowing observer like a more ancient structure than its neighbor, venerable Boston Light. But Graves Light is actually one of Massachusetts’ youngest lighthouses.

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Col. William Sanford Stanton of the U.S. Army ...

In 1843 lighthouse inspector I. W. P. Lewis expressed surprise that there was no beacon on the ledges called the Graves. Contrary to popular belief, the ledges are not named because they resemble gravestones, or because of a high incidence of shipwrecks in the vicinity. They were named in the 1600s for Thomas Graves, Vice-Admiral of Governor Winthrop’s Navy and said to be America’s first foreign trader. The name appears on charts as early as 1687.

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Blasting to clear the ledge in preparation for ...

In 1854 an iron bell buoy was placed near the area. This was later replaced by a whistling buoy, described in the Boston Globe as producing “the most weirdly mournful and blood-chilling sounds.”

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A new major shipping channel into Boston Harbor, the Broad Sound Channel, opened in the early 20th century. Prior to this, the main entrance to the busy harbor was between Point Allerton in Hull and the outer harbor islands. The creation of the new channel necessitated the building of a lighthouse at the Graves. In 1902 a sum of $188,000 was authorized for the tower and Governor Crane of Massachusetts signed a deed conveying 435,400 square feet at the Graves to the Federal Government. At first the location was to be a rock called the Northeast Graves, but the site was changed to the Graves in 1903.

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Workmen clearing the ledge in preparation for the ...

A major engineering feat

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Coast Guardsman Ray Curren hauling in lobster ...

The building of the 113-foot Graves Lighthouse was one of the most impressive feats of American lighthouse engineering. The work took place from 1903 to 1905 and was supervised by Royal Luther of Malden, Massachusetts. The style of Graves Light is very similar to Maine’s Ram Island Ledge Light, built about the same time.

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Masons moving granite blocks during the ...

The granite for Graves Light was cut at Rockport on Massachusetts’ Cape Ann. Rock on the ledges was blasted and the foundation was laid just four feet above the low tide mark. The lower courses were bolted three feet deep into the ledge.

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Coast Guardsman Bob Burton inside the lens at ...

A schooner transported materials from Lovell’s Island, 3 1/2 miles away, to the Graves, and a 75-foot steamer transported workers to the site. A shanty was constructed on the highest ledge of the Graves, connected to the wharf by a 90-foot elevated walkway. The shanty had living quarters, a storeroom, a blacksmith shop, and a kitchen, and up to 30 men lived there in the summers of 1903 and 1904. In the summer of 1903 the first 42 feet were completed.

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Actor Joseph Cotton at Graves Light, Boston ...

While the granite was being put in place, the iron work was being manufactured in Boston and a huge first order Fresnel lens was being created in Paris. The summer of 1904 saw the lighthouse reach a height of 88 feet. The following year construction was completed. A granite oil house was built 90 feet south of the tower, reachable by a footbridge. A wharf was built near the tower, protected by 2,000 tons of riprap.

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Graves Light, Boston Harbor, MA from the ...

“The most important light north of Cape Cod”

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Coast Guardsmen Ray Curren and Bob Burton working ...

On the night of September 1, 1905, Graves Light’s first keeper, Elliot C. Hadley, first lighted what was then the most powerful lighthouse in Massachusetts’ history. The gigantic lens floated on 400 pounds of mercury. After the completion of Graves Light, a Lighthouse Establishment report stated:

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Assembled granite blocks for Graves Lighthouse at ...

“At so exposed a site the height necessary for the lantern above the heavier masses of spray, the consequent geographic range, its location so far seaward, the service of the light to the large commerce of Boston and modern ships of deep draft, make it perhaps the most important light north of Cape Cod.”

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Graves Light in Boston Harbor, MA under ...

When it went into service, Graves Light was measured at 380,000 candlepower. The light was later upgraded to 3.2 million candlepower, and for many years it was the most powerful light in New England. Graves Light was also equipped with a powerful Daboll fog trumpet.

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Coast Guardsman Ray Curren and Bob Burton on the ...

The keepers’ bedrooms were on the fourth and fifth stories of Graves Light. “It’s like living in a pipe,” said one keeper. The first story was the landing and storage space, the second was the engine room containing fog-signal equipment, and the third floor was the kitchen. The fourth floor contained two double bunk beds, and the fifth floor was a library and watch room.

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Graves Light, Boston Harbor in its heyday. ...

Two of the floors and all the walls were finished with enameled bricks. The handrails on the stairways were mahogany, and the rest of the woodwork was oak. One newspaper article claimed “as interior fittings go, it is the finest lighthouse in the country.”

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Graves Light, Boston Harbor, MA from an antique ...

The entrance to the lighthouse was at the top of a 40-foot ladder, which made entry difficult in rough weather. Hand grips were built into the outside of the lantern room, which made the treacherous job of cleaning the outside of the glass a little easier.

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This antique postcard shows Graves Light in ...

The 1,500-gallon water cistern in the bottom of the lighthouse was filled twice yearly by a lighthouse tender, and food was delivered regularly to Graves Light. The keepers augmented their diet with lobsters caught in their own traps around the ledges.

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Graves Lighthouse, Boston Harbor as it appears ...

Elliot Hadley, the first keeper, was credited with saving two men whose canoe had overturned near the ledges in the fall of 1910. Hadley launched his dory into heavy seas and was able to reach the men. He brought them to the lighthouse and they made it safely back to shore the following day. On another occasion Hadley rescued the passengers of a swamped sailboat.

Storms and shipwrecks

In 1910 Keeper Hadley described the conditions at Graves Light in storms:

“I’ve looked up at solid water rushing in toward the ledges. I don’t know how far up the solid water comes. I’ve been knocked down by it on the wharf beside the light, and opening a window to look out more than halfway up the tower, I’ve had as much as three buckets-full dashed in my face.”

In December 1916 First Assistant Keeper Harry Whin was alone at the lighthouse and running short on supplies when a ferocious storm struck. Whin had already been on the station for over 70 days and was weeks overdue to be relieved. He was reduced to eating almost nothing but fish, and smoking rope and tea leaves in his pipe. He described the storm in a letter to historian Edward Rowe Snow:

“The wind must have reached more than 100 m.p.h.! It turned to snow, then sleet, then rain and fog; the engines had to run day and night to keep the fog horn going; the light had to run at night even though you couldn’t see the light 100 yards from the station; the water pump that cooled the engines kept freezing. [It was] located down at the wharf. I had to climb that 40-foot ladder up and down to thaw out that pump. This lasted for five days and nights!

“[On] Christmas Eve... I lowered the station boat on the ice and pushed her into open water, headed for Nahant Rock and provisions! My boat developed a leak. I started bailing, my cap in one hand and a tomato soup can in the other. I finally got ahead of the leak and started the engine... [Got] some supplies and tobacco — they got all wet on my return trip; had to dump it all. Returned to the station about 5 a.m. — drifted quite a distance. Took me 5 hours to get back!”

The head keeper returned to Graves Light the following day, and Harry Whin subsequently submitted his resignation from the Lighthouse Service.

Another severe storm in November 1935 moved giant stones, some weighing three tons, and deposited them near the lighthouse.

Several wrecks have taken place in the vicinity of Graves Light. There were three during the tenure of Keeper Llewellyn Rogers, the last Lighthouse Service keeper. In 1938 the 419-foot British freighter City of Salisbury, remembered as the “Zoo Ship” for its cargo of zoo animals, struck a reef about one-half mile from the Graves. The vessel’s cargo also included rubber and tea. There was no loss of human life. It was reported that three honey bears and several hundred rare birds from India and Ceylon were rescued successfully, but many monkeys and snakes died later from the effects of the accident. The ship became a tourist attraction for a few months before it finally split in two and sank.

Llewellyn Rogers also had been at Graves Light in 1936 when the steamer New York crashed into the Romance. The Romance sank in 20 minutes, but no lives were lost in the disaster. Keeper Rogers witnessed another disaster on January 21, 1941, when the fishing schooner Mary E. O’Hara struck a barge anchored near The Graves. The men on the schooner climbed the icy rigging in a desperate effort to stay alive as the vessel slowly sank, but only five of the 24 on board survived. It was the third worst shipwreck in Boston Harbor’s history.

The Coast Guard era

The Coast Guard took over the operation of Graves Light in the early 1940s. During the Coast Guard era there were generally two keepers on duty at all times, with each man spending three weeks at the lighthouse followed by one week off.

In 1947 the Coast Guard crew had some unusual entertainment as the lighthouse served as a filming location for a the David O. Selznick production, Portrait of Jennie, starring Joseph Cotten and Jennifer Jones. Graves Light was supposed to be an abandoned Cape Cod lighthouse where Cotten’s character went to paint in solitude. The climax of the movie takes place on the ledges around Graves Light with Cotten looking for his lost love, Jennie. The crew spent 10 days in and around the lighthouse.

Coast Guardsman Larry Bowers was stationed at Graves Light from 1961 to 1963. Like other keepers before him, Bowers experienced some mighty storms. “We had one storm when I was on board with waves coming over the top of the light,” he recalls. “The waves knocked out the window on the first deck and killed the generator.”

Bowers enjoyed scuba diving around the ledges, and he sometimes explored the wreck of the City of Salisbury. He even fashioned pieces of brass and copper from the wreck into a belt buckle. He remembers that “after a storm once in a while a bale of rubber [from the City of Salisbury] would pop up and we’d call the Point [Allerton Coast Guard Station] to haul it in.”

Bowers says that visits from the buoy tender, which brought water and fuel, were welcomed at the isolated lighthouse. “Except,” he says, “one time when they pumped fuel into the water tank. No fun on that one. Number two diesel takes a long time to get out of a cistern. We had to pump it dry, and clean it, whitewash it and bleach it. Still didn’t help much. We only used that tank in emergencies.”

Another of Bowers’ memories is his first Thanksgiving at the lighthouse. He was at the station with one other man, Seaman John Mariani. Bowers and Mariani got a turkey for the holiday, but neither of them had prepared one before. “We stuffed the wrong end,” says Bowers, “and didn’t take the giblets out. Just couldn’t figure out why we couldn’t get all the stuffing in. We made mashed potatoes, veggies enough for an army. Just me and John. We ate turkey the rest of the week.”

Bowers also remembers a summer visit from historian Edward Rowe Snow, who gave him a copy of his book Famous New England Lighthouses. In 1967 Snow held a birthday party for Graves Light. Due to heavy seas, Snow and 50 guests were unable to land at the ledge. Undaunted, Snow stood in the bow of the party boat Genester and read a tribute to the builders and keepers of Graves Light. Coast Guard Keeper Stephen Downey waved in appreciation as the group headed back toward Boston.

Automation and beyond

Graves Light was automated in 1976. According to some, the fumes from the Fresnel lens’ mercury float had become a hazard to the Coast Guard keepers. The enormous glass lens now sits in storage at the Smithsonian Institution.

In 1984, four members of the Coast Guard’s Aids to Navigation Team Boston had to make an emergency Christmas Eve trip to Graves Light when the light failed. Paul Driscoll, the Officer in Charge, told the Boston Globe, “We finally got the generator going again. Then we beat a tough winter storm back into port. Four guys almost spent Christmas in a lighthouse instead of at home with their families.”

Weather and vandalism have taken their toll. The old walkway has been destroyed by storms, and vandals have caused thousands of dollars in damage. The fog signal house was swept away by the “no-name” storm of October 1991. The badly damaged landing platform was repaired in 1993. The original oil house still stands. The light is scheduled to be converted to solar power sometime in 2001, which will eliminate the need for the submarine power cable from the town of Hull.

In The Islands of Boston Harbor, historian Edward Rowe Snow wrote, “I shall not attempt to give you a description of the scene from the top of the Light but hope that some day you may journey to this far-flung ledge and see the splendid view for yourself.” This is now virtually impossible since automation, but you can get excellent views of Graves Light from various excursion boats and distant views from the towns of Winthrop, Nahant and Hull.

For information on lighthouse cruises that offer views of Graves Light, contact:

Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands, Inc.

349 Lincoln Street, Bldg. 45

Hingham, MA 02043-1601

Website: www.fbhi.org

Phone: (781) 740-4290

The Boston Harbor Explorers

P.O. Box 744, Quincy, Massachusetts 02269

Phone: (617) 479-1871

This story appeared in the February 2001 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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