Tarpaulin Cove Light is an historic lighthouse on Naushon Island

Naushon Island

Naushon Island, part of the Elizabeth Islands, is seven miles long, just off Cape Cod, and four statute miles NW of Martha's Vineyard. The island is owned by the Forbes family and is included in the town of Gosnold, Massachusetts...

 in Gosnold, Massachusetts

Gosnold, Massachusetts

Gosnold is a town that encompasses the Elizabeth Islands in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 75, making it the least populous town in Massachusetts...

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The light was first established by a local tavern owner in 1795. A rubble tower was built in 1818, which was improved over the years. The present tower was built in 1891. The United States Coast Guard Light List

Light List

The United States Coast Guard Light List is an American navigation publication in 7 volumes made available yearly by the U.S. Coast Guard which gives information on lighted navigation aids, unlighted buoys, radiobeacons, radio direction finder calibration stations, daybeacons, racons, and LORAN...

 description is "White tower; small white building attached to west side of tower". The actual light is 78 feet (24 m) above Mean High Water

Tide

Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....

. Its white light is visible for 9 nautical miles (16.7 km).

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.