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Photograph of Cape Ann Light Station
Photograph by Tim Pierce, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Twin Lights Historic District-Cape Ann Light Station

A National Historic Landmark. Built in 1771. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. 17 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1886.

From the record

One of 480 National Register listings published here for Essex County · listed in 1971 · category: District · built in 1771 · a National Historic Landmark.

Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article

The listing

  • Listed as. Twin Lights Historic District--Cape Ann Light Station - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
  • Address. 1 mi. E of Rockport on Thatcher's Island, Rockport
  • When was it listed? October 1971
  • Category. district
  • Also known as. Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR (AD); Lighthouses of Massachusetts TR
  • When was it built? 1771
  • National Register reference number. 71000355 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

10 since 2016

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 10 fires within 5 miles of Twin Lights Historic District-Cape Ann Light Station between 2016 and 2020, burning about 3 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Recreation and ceremony5
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Equipment and vehicle use1
Smoking1
Arson/incendiarism1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
8 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
8 September 2020Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
24 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
26 July 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 June 2018Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlROCKPORT
16 June 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlROCKPORT
8 May 2020Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
31 May 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Every fire recorded in Essex County

Mines and quarries near this property

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Twin Lights Historic District-Cape Ann Light Station: 6 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Granite, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Mc Niff-Dominic PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Mcniff Co IncSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Johnson QuarryGranitePast Producer
Rockport Quarries IncGranitePast ProducerGranite
Town of RockportGranitePast ProducerGranite
Town of Rockport QuarryGranitePast Producer

Every working recorded in Essex County

Maps showing this location

17 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the middle of the area the National Park Service maps for this listing, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
David Gray House1.1 miles1982
Straightsmouth Island Light1.5 miles1987
Rockport High School2.5 miles1997
Rockport Downtown Main Street Historic District2.6 miles1976
Rockport High School, Old2.6 miles2004
Sewall-Scripture House2.9 miles1982

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 71000355 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Essex CountyAll 480 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.