The Iconic Butler Flats Lighthouse
September 19th, 2012
Location: New Bedford Channel, mouth of Acushnet River
Nearest city: New Bedford
41 36 12 N
70 53 42 W
This week, I had the unbelievable opportunity to boat up to AND go inside this historic and iconic New Bedford gem. It was a crazy experience boating up to this place with my friend Kevin Dakin. This thing is HUGE. It appears to be so small out there in the water but when you get up to it.....well, let's just say, it was as ominous as depicted here in this image. Big, decaying, completely unsafe, and way dangerous. I still cannot believe I did it. Just wait for the view from the top and many more to come from the inside....all 5 or 6 levels I was on.
History:
"Its days as a whaling center were long past, but New Bedford was still an important port in the late 1800s. It was the third largest manufacturing city in Massachusetts, and about 500,000 tons of shipping entered the port in 1890 alone. Butler Flats Light, built in 1898 for $34,000, replaced the old Clark's Point Light, which had been active since 1804. The appropriation for the lighthouse was Butler Flats was secured largely through the efforts of Congressman Sturtevant Randall.
Butler Flats Light was designed by F. Hopkinson Smith, also an artist and writer. Smith's place in lighthouse history is secure largely due to his planning of Race Rock Light in Fisher's Island Sound. Smith also built the foundation of the Statue of Liberty.
Built in shallow water with no solid rock for a foundation, Butler Flats Light was a challenge to construct. An iron cylinder 35 feet in diameter was put into place after five feet of mud was dredged. The cylinder was filled with stone and concrete, then the brick lighthouse was built on top. The tower was painted red for a time, but it was changed to white in 1899.
The "sparkplug" style light has four stories. The basement served as a storage area. Above that were office space, living quarters which were 18 feet in diameter, and a watchroom. Butler Flats Light originally had a fifth-order kerosene-fueled Fresnel lens, which has since been replaced."
Source for more info: lighthouse.cc/butler/history.html
The Iconic Butler Flats Lighthouse
September 19th, 2012
Location: New Bedford Channel, mouth of Acushnet River
Nearest city: New Bedford
41 36 12 N
70 53 42 W
This week, I had the unbelievable opportunity to boat up to AND go inside this historic and iconic New Bedford gem. It was a crazy experience boating up to this place with my friend Kevin Dakin. This thing is HUGE. It appears to be so small out there in the water but when you get up to it.....well, let's just say, it was as ominous as depicted here in this image. Big, decaying, completely unsafe, and way dangerous. I still cannot believe I did it. Just wait for the view from the top and many more to come from the inside....all 5 or 6 levels I was on.
History:
"Its days as a whaling center were long past, but New Bedford was still an important port in the late 1800s. It was the third largest manufacturing city in Massachusetts, and about 500,000 tons of shipping entered the port in 1890 alone. Butler Flats Light, built in 1898 for $34,000, replaced the old Clark's Point Light, which had been active since 1804. The appropriation for the lighthouse was Butler Flats was secured largely through the efforts of Congressman Sturtevant Randall.
Butler Flats Light was designed by F. Hopkinson Smith, also an artist and writer. Smith's place in lighthouse history is secure largely due to his planning of Race Rock Light in Fisher's Island Sound. Smith also built the foundation of the Statue of Liberty.
Built in shallow water with no solid rock for a foundation, Butler Flats Light was a challenge to construct. An iron cylinder 35 feet in diameter was put into place after five feet of mud was dredged. The cylinder was filled with stone and concrete, then the brick lighthouse was built on top. The tower was painted red for a time, but it was changed to white in 1899.
The "sparkplug" style light has four stories. The basement served as a storage area. Above that were office space, living quarters which were 18 feet in diameter, and a watchroom. Butler Flats Light originally had a fifth-order kerosene-fueled Fresnel lens, which has since been replaced."
Source for more info: lighthouse.cc/butler/history.html