Boston Lighthouse Lit for the First Time
On this day in 1716, Boston Light on Little Brewster Island was lit for the first time. The first lighthouse built in North America, the structure weathered 60 years of lightning strikes and hurricane-force winds before the British Army blew it up in 1776. Seven years later, a 75-foot tower was built to replace it. The walls were 7 ½ feet thick at the base, 2 ½ feet thick at the top. In the eighteenth century, mariners were guided into the harbor by the light of tallow candles. In 1859 a powerful new lens was installed. It significantly increased the distance from which Boston Light's beacon could be seen. Today the beam is visible 27 miles out in the Atlantic.
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