Newburyport, Massachusets
11 October 2026
First a question, who likes lighthouses? I am going to go out on a limb and guess that more than a few people do. Personally, I have always thought they were special and unique. I grew up in Ohio, so we did not have that many unless you lived on the lake. But I digress.
This week’s quest took me to Newburyport, MA. I have been there many times but almost always to the downtown shopping district. It is great place to visit but I have never been to Plum Island and decided to check it out and find the lighthouses.
If you have not been to Plum Island one of the first things you see, just before the bridge, I an old, dilapidated building with a sign that says NO EVACUATION POSSIBLE in large, red, capital letters. This is no doubt a remanent from one of the from the anti-nuclear protests years ago. but to be honest, My original thought was it was in reference to the many hurricanes and nor’easters that have come our way. One of the things that I learned is that this sign what originally put up by Jack Van Loan who owned the building approximately 50ish years ago. It was taken down after if got to faded (I don't know exactly when) but someone replaced it with a new sign a few months ago. I wish that I had more information but will keep researching. Now onto the lighthouses.
The first lighthouse is the Plum Island Lighthouse AKA The Newburyport Harbor Light. This is a small light house that was used as a navigational marker to guide ships into the Merrimack River and Newburyport Harbor. Originally there were two lighthouses which also functioned as range lights, more on that shortly. The second lighthouse burned in 1853 leaving only the one still standing. The current lighthouse has a green light. I thought this was unusual until someone mentioned that they were also range lights. I suspect that the 2nd lighthouse had a red light, but I have no proof. Just a hypothesis and more research to do.
The next two lights are the Newburyport Harbor Front & Rear Range Lights. The Rear light is taller that the front light. A ship's crew knew they were on the right course to enter the harbor when the two lights were lined up. When not lined up, a navigator could use trigonometry and measure the angles from the boat to the lighthouse and determine their location or distance. One side note, I thought the flags on the rear range light were just decoration but I was mistaken. They are there so that the lighthouse is easily visible during daylight hours. You learn something new everyday.
The photos selected come in two flavors. The first photo is the is the digital image and the second is B&W film. There are two film photos of the Newbury Harbor Light. One where I tinted the light green for artistic reasons and the other that I left pure. Also, the photo of the Newburyport Harbor Rear Range Light is digital only.
