Twin Lights Historic District-Cape Ann Light Station
Built 1771. Added to the National Register in 1971, and a National Historic Landmark.
The record
| Property type | Historic district |
| Address | 1 mi. E of Rockport on Thatcher's Island, Rockport, MA |
| County | Essex County |
| Listed | Oct 7, 1971 |
| Listed for | Engineering, Transportation |
| Level of significance | National |
| Also known as | Thatcher's Island Twin Lights; Cape Anne Light Station |
| Reference number | 71000355 |
| Built | 1771 · more from the 1770s |
| Designations | National Historic Landmark |
The nomination form, the document that argues why this place matters, is in the National Archives: Read the nomination ↗
Visiting
| Address | 1 mi. E of Rockport on Thatcher's Island, Rockport, MA |
| Coordinates | 42.6368° N, 70.5749° W · Directions ↗ |
Explore
Map
Nearby in Essex County
Public land around it
| Thacher Island National Wildlife Refuge ↗National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | About a mile away17 acres |
Wilderness Atlas publishes a centroid and an acreage for each unit, not a boundary line. Distance here is measured to a circle of the same area drawn around that centroid, so treat it as roughly right rather than surveyed.
Local history books for Essex County
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Guidebooks to historic places and travel in Massachusetts
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.
Reference
Questions people ask
When was Twin Lights Historic District-Cape Ann Light Station listed on the National Register?
Oct 7, 1971. It is also a National Historic Landmark, the higher of the two designations.
Source: National Park Service
When was Twin Lights Historic District-Cape Ann Light Station built?
1771.
Source: Wikidata
Where is Twin Lights Historic District-Cape Ann Light Station?
1 mi. E of Rockport on Thatcher's Island, Rockport, Essex County, Massachusetts.
Source: National Park Service
Where is the nomination form for Twin Lights Historic District-Cape Ann Light Station?
The National Archives holds the nomination form, the document that made the case for listing.
Source: National Archives
Sources
Name, location, type and dates come from the National Register office's spreadsheet of listed properties, because the Park Service's spatial data does not carry this listing. The map point comes from Wikidata. Construction date, architect, style, photograph and encyclopedia link come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, matched on reference number 71000355. Nothing here is transcribed by hand. The nomination form and photographs ↗ at NPGallery are the original nomination as filed with the National Park Service, and the form is often the best description of the place.