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Great Point Lighthouse Threatened By Erosion of The Beach ACCORDING TO THE most recent advices, the erosion of the outer beach at Great Point has reached a point where, unless nature reverses the condition, the tall white lighthouse standing there is in great danger of toppling into the sea. Government and State engineers have been studying the situation and agree that there seems to be no hope of checking the wearing away of the barrier beach. The work of moving the tower has been considered but the cost, if accomplished, appears to be prohibitive. Funds for possible saving of the old structure are being collected by the Nantucket Historical Association and other organizations in the Town. The present lighthouse at Great Point was erected in 1818, and was originally lighted by whale oil. But the history of the establishment of a lighthouse here actually began before the Revolutionary War, when the town of Nantucket, recognizing the need for a lighted beacon on Sandy Point (as it was originally known) appointed a committee composed of Frederick Folger, Christopher Starbuck and Reuben Coffin, to draw up a petition to the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony for the establishment of such a light. Nothing was done by that body, and the advent of the War precluded any further action. With the war's end, and the return of whaling activities to the Island, another petition was forwarded to the General Court. At this time, with economic conditions in the new country demanding, among other factors, strong support for the recovery of the whaling industry, the General Court approved and on February 5, 1784, a resolution provided for the erection of the Great Point Light at Nantucket as soon as possible. On November 11, 1784, Richard Devens, the commissary general, was granted 1,089 pounds, 15 shillings, and 5 pence in addition to 300 already paid out "for erecting a lighthouse and small house at Nantucket." The lighthouse was erected that next year—1785. On June 10, 1790, the "lighthouse, land, etc., on Sandy Point, county of Nantucket," was ceded to the Federal Government. Overseeing the initial construction of the light was Captain Alexander Coffin, one of the Nantucketers who strongly advocated support of the Continental cause during the Revolution. John Coffin built the lighthouse lodge and an old account book records that "170 feet of
