Minot’s Ledge Light

Last Monday I had President’s Day off so I decided I should get out of the house and take some photos. I hadn’t really done any photography since I was in Florida. We’ve had a very mild winter but of course, this would be one of the colder days of the year. It was only about 32° and as usual when I don’t know where to go to take photos I end up at the ocean (which is typically even colder). 

I decided to drive around the Cohasset area and see what I could find. I somehow ended up on Atlantic Ave. and pulled over to the side of the road to take this shot. This is the Minot Ledge Light. It is located about a mile off shore between the towns of Cohasset and Scituate. Apparently, the light was put there due to the dangerous rocks that you can see. 

Looking up some history on the lighthouse I came across this website. It talked about the lighthouse keepers. I couldn’t even imagine being left out in the ocean in the middle of the day let alone the middle of the night. I found this excerpt interesting:

“The first keeper—at $600 yearly—was Isaac Dunham, a Massachusetts native. There were usually two keepers on duty at a time; Dunham’s assistants included his son, Isaac A. Dunham, and Russell Higgins of Cape Cod. 

Dunham didn’t believe the structure was safe. Only a week after the light went into service, he wrote in the log (original spelling retained):

Clensd the Lantern for Liting in a tremendous Gale of wind. It seames as though the Light House would go from the Rock.

In April 1850, Dunham wrote:

April 5—This day and the last night will long be remembered by me as one of the most trying that I have ever experience during my life.

April 6—The wind E. blowing very hard with an ugly sea which makes the light real [sic] like a Drunken Man — I hope God will in mercy still the raging sea — or we must perish. . . . God only knows what the end will be.

At 4 P.M. the gale continues with great fury. It appears to me that if the wind continues from the East and it now is that we cannot survive the night—if it is to be so—O God receive my unworthy soul for Christ sake for in him I put my trust.

Fearing for his life, Dunham requested that the tower be strengthened, but Captain Swift assured everyone that it was perfectly safe. Unconvinced, Dunham resigned after 10 months as keeper. His two assistants also resigned.”

Reference: New England Lighthouses: A Virtual Guide website