Paul St. Germain

Since the U.S. Coast Guard left Straitsmouth Island Light Station in the 1930s, it has been owned by a number of private owners and by the 1960s had been totally abandoned. It has been on the doomsday list of endangered lighthouses since that time. A joint effort by the Thacher Island Association, the town of Rockport, and the Massachusetts Audubon Society has been established to save this historic and iconic lighthouse station first established in 1834.

The Cape Ann Light Station on Thacher Island off the coast of Rockport, Massachusetts, is noted for some very significant firsts and lasts in the history of light stations in the U.S. It was the first lighthouse to mark a dangerous spot along the coast. The nine prior lighthouses simply marked harbor entrances. The original station was the 10th of the twelve stations built under British rule. The current towers are the last officially operating twin lights in the nation.