West Chop Light
West Chop Light is a lighthouse in Massachusetts, at a modelled elevation of 8 m. Peaked Hill stands 95 m to the southwest, 11 miles off. The nearest named place is Keeper's House, a lighthouse less than a tenth of a mile away. Old King's Highway (Route 6A) passes 20 miles off.
The story
West Chop Light is a lighthouse station located at the entrance of Vineyard Haven Harbor in Tisbury, Massachusetts, on the northern tip of West Chop, a few miles from the village of Vineyard Haven. The first 25-foot (7.6 m) rubblestone lighthouse and dwelling were built on the bluffs of West Chop in 1817. Following constant erosion, the lighthouse was moved back in 1830, and again in 1846. The first lightkeeper was pilot James Shaw West who tended the light for thirty years, from 1818 to 1848. His pay was $350 a year. Subsequent lightkeepers were Charles West, 1849–1868; his son Charles P. West, 1869-c1909; George F. Dolby (1909–1919); James Yates (1919-?); and Octave Ponsart (1946–1956) Sam Fuller has also been mentioned as a lightkeeper. The present 45-foot (14 m) tall brick tower and dwelling were built in 1891. In 1976 West Chop Light became the last Martha's Vineyard lighthouse to be automated, but the original Fresnel lens is still in operation. The former lightkeeper's dwellings are now vacant but remains property of the U.S. Coast Guard and off limits to the public. The West Chop Light Station has been on the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places since 1987.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Dates from 1891.
Wikidata Q7984740, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Built
- 1891
- Height
- 13.7 m
How to reach it
- 19.5 mi off the Old King's Highway (Route 6A), National
Named places within 25 miles
- West Chop Meadow: 0.4 mi
- West Chop Woods: 0.5 mi
- Carpenters Woods: 0.8 mi
- Eastville Beach Jetty: 1.6 mi
- Eastville Point Beach: 1.6 mi
- Tisbury Town Beach: 1.2 mi
- Owen Park Beach: 1.5 mi
- Eastville Beach: 1.6 mi
- Doug's Cove: 1.7 mi
- Lake Tashmoo Town Beach: 1.9 mi
- Owen Park: 1.6 mi
- Prospect Park: 1.8 mi
- Boch Park: 1.9 mi
- Veterans Memorial Park: 2.0 mi
- Morton Park: 2.1 mi
- Telegraph Hill: 1.9 mi
- Tashmoo Hill: 2.6 mi
- Pilot Hill: 2.8 mi
- Nobska Hill: 3.8 mi
- Mount Sod: 4.9 mi
- Soldiers Memorial: 2.8 mi
- War Memorial: 2.8 mi
- Nobska Lighthouse: 3.7 mi
- Woods Holl: 4.7 mi
- Katharine Lee Bates: 5.0 mi
- Old Schoolhouse Museum and Liberty Pole: 1.7 mi
- Martha's Vineyard Museum: 2.2 mi
- Cottage Museum: 2.7 mi
- Mariposa Museum: 2.8 mi
- Woods Hole Historical Museum: 4.6 mi
- Husselton Head: 0.8 mi
- North Head: 2.0 mi
- Makonikey Head: 3.8 mi
- Falmouth Heights: 3.9 mi
- Nobska Point: 5.5 mi
- Flying Horses Carousel: 2.7 mi
- The Liberté: 4.4 mi
- Falmouth Road Race Finish Line: 4.4 mi
- Falmouth Road Race Starting Line: 4.7 mi
- Big Bridge: 5.2 mi
- Spohr Public Gardens: 4.8 mi
- Garden of Our Lady: 4.9 mi
- Colonial Gardens: 5.2 mi
- Mashpee Community Garden: 13.0 mi
- Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Garden: 18.6 mi
- Helen Keller: 4.8 mi
- Whale Tail: 4.8 mi
- Rachel Carson: 4.8 mi
- Whale Tail: 7.8 mi
- Buddha: 8.0 mi
- Keeper's House: 0.0 mi
- Keeper's House: 0.0 mi
- Fog Signal Building: 0.0 mi
- Oil House: 0.0 mi
- Nobska Point Light: 3.7 mi
- truck pull-off: 18.6 mi
- truck pull-off: 18.6 mi
- Rest Area SR-25 Welcome Center: 20.7 mi
- Yarmouth Tourist Information Center: 21.5 mi
- truck pull-off: 23.4 mi
- Bourne Recreation Area: 18.4 mi
- Herring Run Recreational Area: 20.3 mi
- Crystal Spring: 18.5 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 22.8 miles of West Chop Light. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peaked Hill | SW 220° | 94.8 m | 11.2 mi |
| Pine Hill | N 6° | 93 m | 15.8 mi |
| Telegraph Hill | NNE 19° | 85 m | 18.4 mi |
| Flatrock Hill | N 9° | 82 m | 19.2 mi |
| Avery Hill | N 7° | 80 m | 17.5 mi |
| Prospect Hill | SW 224° | 78 m | 11.0 mi |
| Discovery Hill | NNE 22° | 77 m | 18.2 mi |
| Deer Horn Hill | N 3° | 71 m | 12.4 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 06:47 | 18:18 | 18:55 |
| June solstice | 05:10 | 19:38 | 20:20 |
| September equinox | 06:30 | 18:05 | 18:42 |
| December solstice | 07:06 | 15:32 | 16:16 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: May–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 32 | 33 | 37 | 47 | 56 | 65 | 72 | 72 | 66 | 56 | 46 | 38 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Woods Hole Golf Club, 5 mi away.
Mean tidal range 1.59 ft at the nearest NOAA station.
NOAA CO-OPS station VINEYARD HAVEN, VINEYARD HVN HBR, MA, 2 miaway — today’s predictions live there.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
National Register of Historic Places, reference 87001506OpenStreetMapWikidata- National Register of Historic Places — West Chop Light Station, reference 87001506, listed 06/15/87.
OpenStreetMap element way/1062312141
Day trips start here
- Marion · 17 mi
- Mattapoisett · 17 mi
- SouthCoast · 17 mi
- Wareham · 20 mi
- Dartmouth · 21 mi
- New Bedford · 21 mi
Take the scenic way to West Chop Light.
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