Nantucket Harbor Range Lights

This article is about the current range lights in Nantucket Harbor. For the historic range lights, see Nantucket Range Lights.

Nantucket Range Rear Light

The Nantucket Harbor Range Lights
Location	Brant Point, Nantucket, Massachusetts
Coordinates	41°17′21.4″N 70°5′30.9″W / 41.289278°N 70.091917°W / 41.289278; -70.091917Coordinates: 41°17′21.4″N 70°5′30.9″W / 41.289278°N 70.091917°W / 41.289278; -70.091917[1]
Year first lit	1908 (current tower)
Construction	Wood
Tower shape	Pyramidal Skeleton Tower
Markings / pattern	KRW
Height	46ft (14m)
Focal height	51ft (16m)
Original lens	Higher intensity beam to seaward.
Characteristic	Fixed White
Fog signal	none
USCG number	1-15165 [2] [3] [4]

Nantucket Reef Range Front Light

Old Brant Point Light is to the right U.S. Coast Guard photo
Location	Brant Point, Nantucket, Massachusetts
Coordinates	41°17′23.6″N 70°5′32″W / 41.289889°N 70.09222°W / 41.289889; -70.09222[1]
Year first lit	1908 (current tower)
Construction	Wood
Tower shape	Pyramidal Skeleton Tower
Markings / pattern	KRW
Height	30ft (9m)
Focal height	35ft (11m)
Original lens	Higher intensity beam to seaward.
Characteristic	Q W
Fog signal	none
USCG number	1-15160 [2] [3] [4]

The Nantucket Harbor Range Lights are range lights which were built in 1908 to guide vessels through the narrow channel to Nantucket Harbor. They replaced an older arrangement, known as Nantucket Range Lights, which became unusable when the current Brant Point Light replaced the 1856 Brant Point Light tower.

They display red and white vertical striped daymarks, type KRW, one of the twelve combinations used by the Coast Guard.

It is not known why the official USCG name of the front light, Nantucket Reef Range Front Light^[2] includes the word "reef".

References

1. ^ ^{a b} The coordinates shown are the official coordinates from the cited Light List and are shown to the precision given there.
2. ^ ^{a b c} (PDF) Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2009. p. 135. http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lightLists/LightList%20V1.pdf. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-09-14. http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHMA.asp. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Rowlett, Russ (2009-09-14). "Lighthouses of the United States: Southeast Massachusetts". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/ma2.htm.