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Geographic coordinates: 41° 28' 51" N 70° 35' 59" W
Nearest town: Tisbury. Located at the west side of the entrance to Vineyard Haven Harbor, Martha’s Vineyard.
Established: 1817. Present lighthouse built: 1891. Automated: 1976.
Height of tower: 45 feet. Height of focal plane: 84 feet.
Optic: Fourth-order Fresnel lens.
Characteristic: White light occulting every 4 seconds with a red sector.
Two areas of land known as East Chop and West Chop protect the harbor at Vineyard Haven. To aid vessels heading in and out of the harbor as well as coastal traffic passing through Vineyard Sound, Congress appropriated $5,000 for a light station in March 1817. The first lighthouse, a 25-foot rubblestone tower, was erected along with a stone dwelling. James Shaw West, a Tisbury native, became the first keeper at $350 per year.
West, still keeper in 1843, reported that the inside of the tower was coated with ice in winter. The keeper also pointed out that the bluff on which the lighthouse stood had eroded to within 37 feet of the tower’s base.
The station was rebuilt in 1846, with a round stone tower and a stone house that were about 1,000 feet southeast of the old location. The 1846 tower was later enclosed in shingled wooden sheathing.
By the early 1890s, West Chop had become a summer resort, and the proliferation of large houses in the area began to obscure the light. In 1891, a new 45-foot brick tower, painted red, replaced the 1846 tower. The tower was painted white in 1896.
In 1976, West Chop Light became the last Martha’s Vineyard lighthouse to be automated. Two keeper’s houses still stand; the house closest to the lighthouse now serves as living quarters for the officer in charge of Coast Guard Station Menemsha. The other house is a vacation home for people in the military.
The grounds are closed to the public, but the lighthouse can be seen from West Chop Road and is also easily viewed from the ferries to and from Vineyard Haven. To reach the light station, follow Main Street north from the ferry dock in Vineyard Haven. It’s about a two-mile walk from the ferry. The station is just past Minnesota Street on the right and just before Oneida Street on the left.
For information on getting to Martha’s Vineyard and transportation on the island, see the section on Gay Head Light.
Fascinating Fact 
Charles West became keeper in 1847. His son, also named Charles, took over in 1868 and remained until his retirement in 1909, ending a sixty-two-year father/son dynasty.
