Palmer Island Light
Encyclopedia
Palmer Island Light Station is a historic lighthouse
in New Bedford Harbor in New Bedford, Massachusetts
, USA
. The lighthouse was built in 1849 out of stone rubble. It was discontinued when the harbor's hurricane barrier was built in the early 1960s, as its location immediately north of the barrier was no longer an outlying danger and there are lights on either side of the barrier opening.
From 1888 until 1891 it served, with Fairhaven Bridge Light
, as a range light
to guide vessels past Butler Flats, a rocky shoal on the west side of the entrance channel.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
as Palmer Island Light Station on March 26, 1980, reference number 80000433.
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
in New Bedford Harbor in New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The lighthouse was built in 1849 out of stone rubble. It was discontinued when the harbor's hurricane barrier was built in the early 1960s, as its location immediately north of the barrier was no longer an outlying danger and there are lights on either side of the barrier opening.
From 1888 until 1891 it served, with Fairhaven Bridge Light
Fairhaven Bridge Light
Fairhaven Bridge Light was a lighthouse on the bridge from New Bedford to Fairhaven, Massachusetts, at the north end of New Bedford Harbor. From 1888 to 1891 it served as the rear light of a range to guide ships past Butler Flats on the west side of the harbor entrance. The front light of the range...
, as a range light
Leading lights
Leading lights are a pair of light beacons, used in navigation to indicate a safe passage for vessels entering a shallow or dangerous channel; and may also be used for position fixing. At night, the lights are a form of leading line that can be used for safe navigation...
to guide vessels past Butler Flats, a rocky shoal on the west side of the entrance channel.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as Palmer Island Light Station on March 26, 1980, reference number 80000433.
Nomenclature
- The USCG historical web site calls it "Palmer Island Light"
- The current USCG Light List calls it "Palmers Island Light"
- The National Register of Historic Places calls it "Palmer Island Light Station"