52 Weeks of Fun

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Plymouth Light Station (Gurnet Light)

Plymouth Light Station is located on Gurnet Point in Plymouth at the entrance to Duxbury Bay. Also known as Gurnet Light, the Plymouth Light Station was first established on a high bluff at the end of Gurnet Point in 1768. Plymouth served as one of the major ports of colonial America. Increased shipping traffic necessitated a navigational aid to guide mariners in and out of Plymouth Harbor and further promote trade. The light station is located inside the earthworks of Fort Andrew, which existed during the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War.

The original structure resembled a house with a lantern room at each end of the roof. After a fire destroyed the first light station in 1801, a new pair of wooden towers were constructed by 1803. The towers had deteriorated to such an extent by the 1840s that it became necessary to build a third set of light towers. Completed in 1843, the new octagonal, pyramidal, wooden towers were 34 feet high and connected by an enclosed storage shed. This light is



A 52 Weeks of Fun Fascinating Fact about Plymouth Light Station (Gurnet Light)

The Gurnet Light is the oldest wooden lighthouse in the United States, and it remains active.

Attraction Advice

The light station is generally closed to the public but may be opened for brief periods including Duxbury's "Opening of the Bay" festival in May. Best seen by boat, the light is also visible from areas surrounding Plymouth Harbor.




Sixth Order Fresnel lenses in twin towers lit the way for mariners for 154 years before the U.S. Coast Guard demolished one during an upgrade of the other to a Fourth Order Fresnel Lens.

The Minots Ledge Lighthouse sits approximately one mile off the coast of Cohasset, about half-an-hour north of the Plymouth Light.

Nearby “Bug Light”, a nickname for the percolator-look of the Duxbury Pier Light, designates the entrance to Plymouth Harbor.

Duxbury is home to one of the best-preserved Federal-period historic districts located on its waterfront.

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