The United States of America is a federal union of 50 states and a capital district. The state of Massachusetts, officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous of the New England states in the northeast of the country. Its capital city of Boston, founded in 1630, is the leading port of the region. A small state with a long coastline and many harbors, Massachusetts has a large number of lighthouses. This page lists the lighthouses of the southeastern part of the state, including the long hook of Cape Cod, the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, and the mainland coast in the New Bedford area. The former whaling center of New Bedford is the only important port in this region. However, the beaches and shoals of Cape Cod and the islands have been grave hazards to navigation ever since the European discovery of this coast. The lights that warn of these dangers include some of the best known and best loved U.S. lighthouses. Massachusetts is divided into fourteen counties, although most of the county governments have been abolished or greatly reduced in function. The counties are subdivided into towns and cities for local government. Jeremy D'Entremont's book, The Lighthouses of Massachusetts (Beverly, Mass.: Commonwealth Editions, 2007) is an indispensible resource for information on these lighthouses. Navigational aids in Massachusetts are operated by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England in Woods Hole on Cape Cod, but ownership (and sometimes operation) of historic lighthouses has been transferred to local authorities and preservation organizations in many cases. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume J of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. USCG numbers are from Vol. I of the USCG Light List.
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Barnstable County (Cape Cod) Lighthouses
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![]() Long Point Light, Provincetown, June 2022 Google Maps photo by Luke Hutchings |
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Dukes County Lighthouses
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![]() West Chop Light, Vineyard Haven, July 2022 Instagram photo by Colleen Spelman |
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Nantucket County Lighthouses
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Southern Plymouth County Lighthouses
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Bristol County (New Bedford and Fall River) Lighthouses
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![]() Lightship WLV-613 Nantucket II, New Bedford, September 2017 Lightphotos.net photo by Andreas Köhler; used by permission |
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![]() Lightship WLV-612 Nantucket at Pier 25, New York, February 2009 Wikimedia public domain photo by Jim Henderson |
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![]() Palmer Island Light, New Bedford, October 2020 Google Maps photo by Josh Hanna |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Northern Massachusetts | West: Rhode Island
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Checked and revised June 4, 2024. Lighthouses: 45. Lightships: 1. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.