Brant Point: America's Second Lighthouse

Brant Point Lighthouse, marking the entrance to the harbor of Nantucket, on the island of the same name, and the second oldest light station in the State of Massachusetts, as well as in the United States, is unique among United States lighthouses in several respects. It was the first and also among the very few lighthouses erected and maintained at the expense of a township. Probably no other light in this country has been shown from so many different structures, or has been moved about so much, for no less than seven successive lighthouses have been built on Brant Point. The jurisdiction over the Brant Point Lighthouse changed almost as frequently, for the light after being maintained by the town of Nantucket (or Sherburn, as it was then called) for many years, was next provided for at the expense of the British colony of Massachusetts. At the successful termination of the Revolution, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts provided for the support of the lighthouse, and shortly after 1789 this, with other lighthouses in various States, was ceded to the Federal Government.