Accessibility: 
Geographic coordinates: 42° 32' 47" N 70° 51' 23" W
Nearest city: Beverly. Located on the north side of the channel to Salem Harbor.
Established: 1872. Present lighthouse built: 1872. Automated: 1947.
Height of tower: 45 feet. Height of focal plane: 70 feet.
Optic: Three-and-one-half-order Fresnel lens.
Characteristic: Fixed white.
The lighthouse here was one of three aids established in 1871–72 (the lights at Fort Pickering and Derby Wharf were the others) to help mariners headed for Salem Harbor. The 45-foot square brick lighthouse received a three-and-one-half-order Fresnel lens, which is still in service. It also has a very rare component called a condensing panel. Because of the panel, the light diminishes in intensity if a mariner veers from the main channel.
In 1927, the lighthouse officially became the Hospital Point Range Front Light. A rear range light was established in the steeple of Beverly’s First Baptist Church, about a mile from the lighthouse. Incoming mariners lined up the light seen from a window in the steeple above the light in the lighthouse.
After the light was automated in 1947, the Coast Guard retained the station to serve as the home of the commander of the First Coast Guard District and his or her family. The grounds around the lighthouse and the tower itself are not open to the public except during an annual open house that’s part of Beverly’s Homecoming Week in late July or early August. For more information on this event, visit www.beverlyhomecoming.com. To drive to the lighthouse, take Route 1A north from Salem into Beverly. Bear right onto Cabot Street. Turn right at Dane Street and follow onto Hale Street (Route 127). Turn right onto East Corning Street. Follow straight onto Bayview Road, which leads to a cul-de-sac near the lighthouse. The view of the tower from the road is largely obstructed by the keeper’s house.
You can also see the lighthouse distantly across the water from the pier at Salem Willows Park in Salem. Better views are available from some of the lighthouse cruises offered by the Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands (781-740-4290, www.fbhi.org), Boston Harbor Cruises (617-227-4321, www.bostonharborcruises.com), and Mahi Mahi Cruises (800-992-MAHI, www.mahicruises.com).
SIDE TRIP: Lynch Park
This 16-acre park in Beverly has two beaches and a formal rose garden. President William Howard Taft leased the Stetson cottage here and made it his summer White House. The park is open all year; there’s a fee for nonresidents from Memorial Day to Labor Day. In summer, there’s a Sunday evening concert series and numerous special events. At low tide, it’s possible to walk from the park to the shoreline in front of Hospital Point Lighthouse. To reach the park from Route 127 in Beverly, head south on East Corning Street and turn right onto Neptune Street. At the top of the hill, you will see a stone wall. The second entrance on the left leads to the parking lot.
Lynch Park
55 Ober Street
Beverly, MA 01915
Phone: 978-921-6067
Web site: www.bevrec.com/lynchpark.html
The First Baptist Church, which serves as a rear range light, is at 221 Cabot Street in Beverly. For more on the church, call 978-922-3295 or visit www.fbcbeverly.org.
Fascinating Fact 
A rear range light that works in tandem with this lighthouse is shown from the steeple of Beverly’s First Baptist Church. It’s the only church in the country that’s also an official aid to navigation.
