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Geographic coordinates: 41° 59' 15" N 70° 38' 55" W
Nearest town: Plymouth. Located in Duxbury Bay, in the main channel to Plymouth Harbor.
Established: 1871. Present lighthouse built: 1871. Automated: 1964.
Height of tower: 47 feet. Height of focal plane: 35 feet.
Previous optic: Fourth-order Fresnel lens. Present optic: 250 mm.
Characteristic: Two red flashes every 5 seconds.
Fog signal: One blast every 15 seconds.
This lighthouse was established to mark a dangerous shoal off Saquish Head in Plymouth Bay. The 47-foot cast-iron tower was filled with concrete to a height of 25 feet. Two levels inside the structure served as living quarters for the resident keepers.
The first keeper was William Atwood. In early February 1875, after about six weeks of being imprisoned because of ice around the tower, Atwood and his wife ran out of food and were living on a pint of water a day. A steamer cut a path through the ice, and food and supplies were delivered.
Frank Grieder became keeper in 1930. His son later recalled the huge fog bell: “You’d wind it up and all of a sudden it’d go whammo, and the whole tower would shake. When the fog cleared and they shut the bell off, you woke up—‘Why is it so quiet?’ ”
A hurricane in 1944 washed away the fog bell mechanism, the station’s boat, and the privy (referred to by Coast Guardsman Harry Salter as “our favorite reading room”).
The station was automated and destaffed in 1964, and it soon fell victim to vandalism and nesting birds. It deteriorated to the point that the Coast Guard considered replacing it with a fiberglass pole in early 1982. Concerned local residents started a group called Project Bug Light, and the Coast Guard reconsidered their plans. Some restoration was completed in the 1980s, thanks to a cooperative effort by the Coast Guard and Project Bug Light.
Another preservation effort was mounted in the 1990s. The nonprofit group Project Gurnet and Bug Lights now care for this lighthouse and Plymouth (“Gurnet”) Light. A renovation was carried out in 2001; more than 1,200 pounds of rust was removed. The group is now working to raise funds for another repainting and other restoration.
The lighthouse can be seen very distantly from the waterfront in Plymouth. One of the best ways to see it is on the sightseeing cruises from Plymouth offered by Captain John Boats (508-747-3434, www.plymouthharborcruises.com).
For more on the lighthouse’s preservation, contact Project Gurnet and Bug Lights, P.O. Box 2167, Duxbury, MA 02331. Web site: www.buglight.org.
Fascinating Fact 
This was the first offshore cast-iron caisson lighthouse in the United States. Its appearance has been likened to a coffee pot.
