# Plymouth Light

- **Country:** United States
- **Region:** Massachusetts
- **Coordinates:** 42.003700, -70.600600
- **Lens:** 100mm
- **Status:** Active
- **Location Text:** Plymouth
- **Focal Height M:** 31.1
- **Year Automated:** 1986
- **Year First Lit:** 1843
- **Summary Written At:** 2026-10-17 00:29:28

Plymouth Light, also called Gurnet Light, is a historic lighthouse standing on Gurnet Point at the entrance to Plymouth Bay in the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. The tower sits within the earthworks of Fort Andrew and can be reached only by passing through the neighboring town of Duxbury.  

The octagonal pyramidal tower is built of cedar shingle on a granite foundation and is painted white, topped with a black lantern and a red roof. Its light sits 102 ft (31.1 m) above mean high water, showing a white beam visible for 17 nmi and a red sector reaching 15 nmi. The characteristic is three white flashes every 10 seconds with a red sector, and the current optic is a 100 mm lens.  

The original structure was erected in 1768, burned and was rebuilt in 1801, and again rebuilt in 1842 as a pair of lights. The present tower was first lit in 1843, and after the opening of the Cape Cod Canal in 1914 the remaining tower was upgraded from a sixth‑order to a fourth‑order Fresnel lens. In December 1998 the tower was moved about 140 ft north to avoid beach erosion. America's first female lighthouse keeper once tended the light, and the station was automated in 1986.  

Plymouth Light remains active and is maintained by Project Gurnet and Bug Lights, Inc. The light continues to operate automatically, and visitors can reach the site by traveling through Duxbury to Gurnet Point.

**Source:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Light (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)