The lighthouse is listed as Lewis Bay Lighthouse, but it is now called Hyannis Harbor Light.
In the early 1800s Hyannis was a busy fishing and commercial port, and in 1840 more than 200 Hyannis men and their ships had arrived to Hyannis and called it home. To mark the port entrance, the Gammon Point Lighthouse was built in 1816 on the southern tip of the Big Island. As Hyannis kept growing and fishing activity kept increasing, there was demand for a lighthouse to sailors around treacherous waters is light Hyannis Harbor. This marks the right port, but it did little to guide ships in the inner harbor.
The conical brick tower was only 19 feet at the base of the lantern and was crowned with a room of the aviary style lantern. Inside the lantern were five oil lamps and reflectors that the guardian put into service on May 7, 1849th. It was a fixed white light with a red area, which guided the ships from the dangerous southwest sound. It will take several years before Congress did authorized a lighthouse at Hyannis Port. A law of August 15, 1848 announced $ 2,000 for the construction of the tower.
What you need to know about Hyannis Port
The first light was displayed as a hanging lamp in a window of a cottage for a number of years by Daniel Hallett in front of the house a lighthouse was built, where he was appointed guardian in the 1849th
The first guard, Daniel Snow Hallett worked for a salary of fifteen dollars a month and lived in a separate house in the neighborhood, as no living room was made available. But luckily he was not living far either this enabled him do his daily work and be able to return home in time as he lived in the nearby neighborhood.
So as to ensure he does not spend much for maintenance of the light, Daniel Snow Hallett often used sell printed instructions to safely navigate to Hyannis Port. Most Hallett was often assisted by his son, Daniel Bunker Hallett, who would go with his dog pilot to the lighthouse. The boy would stay until morning, light, then go home before breakfast, then go to school
It was a law dated September 28, 1850 $ 800 that then set for appropriated a wooden guard apartment. This ensured that Hallett had a house as guardian. Before then Hallett hard to do lots of moving around to keep the harbor functioning. For example he had to ensure the early in the evening he goes to turn on the light and switch it off in the morning or when it was foggy he had also to keep the light lit.
In the 1850s, the lighthouse at Hyannis Harbor was converted into a more efficient Fresnel Fresnel. 1856 Due to the small size of the lantern, it was removed aviary in 1863 and replaced with a larger cast iron lantern. Lewis Bay was so busy and it kept receiving many ships so it was necessary that the light house be upgraded to meet the purpose.
The current owners, Janice Hyland and Alan Granby, owners of Hyland Granby Antiques bought the site in 1985. The new owners made changes inside by renovating, peeling plaster, replacing rotting wood, pulling the carpet and Kitchen conversion included. This new owners have made a lot of changes for it to meet the modern lifestyle but still the light house looks so amazing even from a distance and you can always still stand at the beach and take nice photos of the lighthouse.
The first owners or keepers did not stay long as keepers of the Lewis lighthouse. This was not that they wanted so but it was due to political reasons since at the time politics in the U.S was not as advanced as is now.
Why visit Hyannis Port
There are lots of reasons to visit Hyannis port all you need is to select what to do first or where to visit first. Some of the activities you can do include:-
You can visit the Cape Cod Potato Chip factory and taste the final results or purchase tickets at the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis, which offers many acts of music and theater during the summer season.
For a unique land and adventure of water, take a ride on the Cape Cod mobile duck
Hyannis is the largest city of Cape Cod with many leisure activities, as well as surrounding cities to a wide range of cultural events and festivals, lots of nightlife and music, museums and miles of beaches Area.
You can observe the whales of Barnstable, north of Hyannis.
There are a variety of museums to explore such as the Maritime Museum, the John F. Kennedy Museum, the Classic Sports Toad Museum Auto Museum, various art museums such as the Cahoon Museum of American Art, or visit the museums Heritage and Gardens, near Sandwich, The Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra performs in Barnstable’s Cape Cod Performing Arts Center, Cape Cod’s premier concert hall in Hyannis
How to get to Hyannis Harbor
From Boston to the south, take Route 3 South to Route 6 on Sagamore Bridge to Exit 6, Route 132 to Hyannis
From the intersection of Highways 132 and 28 north of Hyannis, turn south on Hyannis-Barnstable Road.
Continue on Ocean Street Gosnold Street.
Turn right onto Gosnold Street and proceed to the Harbor Road
Turn left onto Harbor Road, where the lighthouse on the right is at the end of the road.
Note that this is a private property. Hence keep off as you may get to trouble or even get yourself arrested for trespassing and you will not want that for all the good reasons. Since the property is privately owned accessed to the tower and grounds is not possible unless you are a friend of the family. But do not worry as you can always be able to have a great view of the lighthouse from the beach or as you stand across the road.
Hyannis, Massachusetts
In service since 1849, this inner harbor lighthouse was in
operation until 1929 when it was decommissioned and sold.
It is now privately owned and visitors are not allowed.
This lighthouse is easily seen since the ferry boats,
departing to and returning from Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard,
travel right by it.
Hyannis Harbor Lighthouse as it looked in the 1800’s.
A great history of the Hyannis Harbor Lighthouse can be found at:
http://www.newenglandlighthouses.net/hyannis-harbor-light-history.html
For current photos of the Hyannis Harbor Lighthouse go to:
http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=484
More information about the Hyannis Harbor Lighthouse can be found at:
http://www.us-lighthouses.com/displaypage.php?LightID=77
Highland Light (A.K.A Cape Cod Light)