Accessibility: 
Geographic coordinates: 41° 43' 22" N 70 16 51 W
Nearest town: Barnstable. Located at the eastern end of the Sandy Neck peninsula at the entrance to Barnstable Harbor, on the north coast of Cape Cod.
Established: 1826. Present lighthouse built: 1857. Deactivated 1931.
Height of tower: 38 feet. Height of focal plane: 36 feet.
Previous optic: Fifth-order Fresnel lens. Present optic: LED.
Characteristic: White flash every 6 seconds.
The eastern tip of six-mile-long Sandy Neck marks the entrance to Barnstable Harbor as well as the approach to the small harbor at Yarmouthport. Congress appropriated $3,500 for a lighthouse at the eastern tip of the peninsula, a site known as Beach Point, in May 1826. The first lighthouse consisted of a wooden lantern on the roof of a brick dwelling.
The 48-foot brick tower that still stands replaced the original lighthouse in 1857. The distinctive pair of iron hoops and six staves that surround the lighthouse were added in 1887 as part of an effort to shore up cracks.
One bitterly cold day, keeper Thomas Baxter headed for Barnstable in his dory, alternately rowing, pulling, and pushing the vessel through the icy harbor. He caught his leg between the dory and the ice, suffering an injury that led to gangrene and eventually his death in 1862. Baxter’s wife, Lucy Hinckley Baxter, succeeded him as keeper and raised three children at the station.
The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1931. The lantern was removed, and the property was sold at auction. In 1944, the property was sold to Fred Lang, a radio personality. Lang sold the property to the Hinckley family in 1950. Ken Morton and Kee Hinckley today manage the property for the family.
In 2004, Morton began working with the Cape Cod chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation to have a replica lantern installed on the tower in time for its 150th birthday in 2007. A new chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation was formed to help restore a lantern on the tower: Sandy Neck Restoration Committee, P.O. Box 147, Barnstable, MA 02630. The installation of a new lantern was completed in 2007; in October, the lighthouse was relit as a private aid to navigation, with a modern LED optic.
Fascinating Fact 
After a storm in 1898, George A. Jamieson discovered that his chicken coop and forty chickens had apparently been washed away to their doom. As it turned out, the coop had washed safely ashore in Barnstable. The chickens were fine, although they did exhibit some strange symptoms that were attributed to seasickness.
The lighthouse can be seen distantly from Millway Beach in Barnstable, but it is best seen by boat. Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises from Barnstable Harbor provide a good view. Call 508-362-6088 or visit www.whales.net.