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Geographic coordinates: 42° 34' 49" N 70° 39' 52" W
Nearest city: Gloucester. Located on the east side of the entrance to Gloucester Harbor.
Established: 1832. Present lighthouse built: 1890. Automated: 1985.
Height of tower: 36 feet. Height of focal plane: 57 feet.
Earlier optic: Fourth-order Fresnel lens. Present optic: DCB 24.
Characteristic: White flash every 5 seconds.
Fog signal: One blast every 10 seconds.
To aid fishermen and others entering Gloucester Harbor, an unlighted stone beacon was placed at Eastern Point in 1829. Two years later, the stone beacon was converted into a lighthouse with the addition of a wrought-iron and copper lantern. The first keeper was a local fisherman, Samuel Wonson. A new 34-foot brick tower was built in 1848. Panes of brilliant red French plate glass in the lantern produced the fixed red light. A fog bell with striking machinery was added in 1857.
A 2,250-foot granite breakwater was built next to the light station between 1894 and 1905. A new light, Gloucester Breakwater Light, was established at the end of the breakwater. For many years, the keepers had the added duty of maintaining the breakwater light, a dangerous task when ice covered the granite blocks.
The light was automated in 1985, but the Coast Guard retained the station for family housing. Scott W. McClain was living at the station with his family during the infamous “Perfect Storm” of October 30, 1991. McClain drilled holes in the covered walkway between the house and tower to keep it from collapsing from the weight of the water that was crashing into it. The McClains escaped the house around midnight when the tide was low, and rode out the rest of the night at the nearby yacht club.
The grounds of the station are closed to the public, but there’s a parking lot and the breakwater is open all year, with good views of the lighthouse. (There are private road signs posted in the Eastern Point neighborhood, but visitors are permitted to drive to the lighthouse.) To reach the lighthouse from Route 128 North, follow 128 all the way to the end. Continue straight past a traffic light onto East Main Street, which eventually becomes Eastern Point Road and then Eastern Point Boulevard. Follow the road through a gate and all the way to the parking lot at the end.
Fascinating Fact 
A rock formation at the light station is said to resemble a reclining woman and is known as “Mother Ann.” A whistling buoy offshore, which produces a low groan, has been dubbed “Mother Ann’s Cow.”
Good views are available from tour boats in the area. Harbor Tours, Inc. (www.capeannharbortours.com, 978-283-1979) offers a lighthouse cruise that passes all five of the cape’s lighthouses. Seven Seas Whale Watch (888-283-1776, www.7seas-whalewatch.com) offers a “Lighthouse & Lobstering Cruise” that includes this lighthouse and Ten Pound Island Light. The 65-foot schooner Thomas Lannon (978-281-6634, www.schooner.org) sails out of Gloucester Harbor daily in season. Some of the fundraising cruises held by the Thacher Island Association (www.thacherisland.org) provide views. Some of the lighthouse cruises offered by the Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands (781-740-4290, www.fbhi.org) and Boston Harbor Cruises (617-227-4321, www.bostonharborcruises.com) also pass by.
SIDE TRIP: Cape Ann Historical Museum
This museum in downtown Gloucester has a wonderful permanent art collection, featuring the work of maritime luminist Fitz Henry Lane (formerly known as Fitz Hugh Lane) and portrait artist Gilbert Stuart, among others. The decorative arts collection includes eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American furniture, Paul Revere silver, and much more. The old fourth-order Fresnel lens from Eastern Point Light is also on display here. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, year round, except for the month of February and major holidays.
Cape Ann Historical Museum
27 Pleasant Street
Gloucester MA 01930
Phone: 978-283-0455
Web site: www.capeannhistoricalmuseum.org
