Year first lit 1819 Foundation Surface rock Tower shape Conical Area 1 ha Automated 1997 Year first constructed 1819 | Deactivated 1933-1997 Construction Rubble stone Opened 1819 Focal height 11 m Added to NRHP 28 September 1987 | |
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Location Sippican Harbor, Marion, Massachusetts Similar Nantucket Cliff Range Lights, Buzzards Bay Entrance, Lovells Island Range Li, Broad Sound Channel I, Dumpling Rocks Light | ||
Bird Island Light is a historic lighthouse at the entrance to Sippican Harbor, Marion, Massachusetts.
The current 37 feet (11 m) tower was built when the light was first established in 1819. Three months after it was first lit, with William Moore as the keeper, it was badly damaged by a storm. It was again severely damaged on September 8, 1869 and, again, repaired. It was deactivated by the USCG in 1933. All of the buildings except the tower were destroyed in the hurricane of 1938. In 1940 the island passed into private hands and was acquired by the Town of Marion in 1966. The light was briefly lit in 1976. The Bird Island Preservation Society was formed in 1994 and on July 4, 1997, the light was relit as a Private Aid to Navigation.
The island, but not the tower, is open to visitors except during the May through August nesting season of the endangered roseate tern.
The island was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Bird Island Light on September 28, 1987.