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Lighthouse Challenge

Join us for the inaugural Martha’s Vineyard Lighthouse Challenge. The Challenge will feature all five of the island’s lighthouses along with the circa 1856 Fresnel lens, housed at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.

Tickets for the Martha’s Vineyard Lighthouse Challenge are $95. Ticket prices include admission to all five lighthouses, the opening night reception and Sunday morning awards ceremony, transportation to all lighthouses on Saturday, June 14^th and a commemorative Martha’s Vineyard Lighthouse Challenge T-shirt.

To purchase tickets call (800) 505-4815 to purchase tickets by phone.

Getting to Martha’s Vineyard

Martha’s Vineyard is an island located 7 miles off the coast of Cape Cod and is accessible only by ferry or airplane. For a complete list of ferries accessing the island visit our website at www.mvy.com . Only the Steamship Authority Ferry out of Woods Hole carries cars and you must have an advance reservation. For more information visit the Steamship Authority website at www.steamshipauthority.com or call (508) 466-8600. For other ferry information visit www.mvy.com/gettinghere/ferries.php

Participants in the Lighthouse Challenge do not need to bring their cars to the Island. Public transportation and taxis are available from the ferry terminal to all the Island’s accommodations and chartered buses will be taking all ticket-holding participants to the lighthouses free of charge.

Cape Air (www.flycapeair.com) services the island with flights from Providence and Boston. US Airways has flights from LaGuardia airport in NYC.

The Lighthouses

Edgartown Lighthouse

An act of Congress, in 1928, appropriated for the construction of a lighthouse on a wooden pier at the entrance of Edgartown harbor.  The Edgartown light was the fourth of the Vineyard’s five lighthouses to be constructed.  In 1930, a causeway connecting the lighthouse to shore was built.  The fierce 1938 hurricane only worsened the condition of the already dilapidated lighthouse, and the structure was demolished shortly afterwards by the Coast Guard.  After removing the old building a year later, the Coast Guard dismantled the Essex Light from Ipswich, Massachusetts and brought it to Edgartown by barge as a replacement.  The newer, 45-foot tall, cast iron light tower was erected close to the location of the original structure, and still stands today.  In 1994, the Martha’s Vineyard Museum (formerly Martha's Vineyard Historical Society) took on the stewardship of the Edgartown Lighthouse.  In 2007, the Martha’s Vineyard Museum received funds from the Community Preservation Act from the town of Edgartown for restoration of the Edgartown light.  In addition to much needed repair work, it also enabled installation of a staircase, making the interior of the lighthouse accessible to the public for the first time in it’s history.

East Chop Lighthouse

In the early 1800s, a signal tower was erected on what is known as “Telegraph Hill,” on East Chop in Oak Bluffs, as part of a semaphore system.  The first lighthouse was constructed on East Chop in 1869, the last of the Island’s five lighthouses to be established.  After burning to the ground in 1871, the lighthouse was rebuilt a year later.  The second structure was completed in 1872 and included a keeper’s dwelling.  In 1875, after years of discussion, the US government appropriated $5,000 to purchase the lighthouse property.  Following the purchase, the building was removed, and construction of a new, government standard metal lighthouse began. 1878 marked completion of the new 40 foot high cast iron tower lighthouse (still standing today), including a keeper’s house equipped with a fourth order, 1000 candlepower Fresnel lens that shown 20 miles out to sea. In 1927, a new lens-turning apparatus was installed, using a cabled weight to turn the gears of the clockwork mechanism.  In 1933 the East Chop Light became automated, shortly afterwards, the keeper’s dwelling was taken down.  In 1957 Oak Bluffs purchased the land surrounding the East Chop Light from the US Coast Guard, and the area became a public park.  In 1984, the original Fresnel lens was replaced by a plastic, 300mm optic.  The 1988 restoration of the lighthouse was conducted by the Vineyard Environmental Research Institute (VERI) due to a license granted by the US government for the protection and maintenance of the East Chop, Gay Head (Aquinnah) and Edgartown Harbor lights.  The license was the first of its kind in the country for active lighthouses.  In 1990, for the first time since 1934, the light was opened to the public. In 1994, the Martha’s Vineyard Museum (formerly Martha's Vineyard Historical Society) took on the stewardship of the East Chop Lighthouse.   In 2007, the Martha’s Vineyard Museum received funds from the Community Preservation Act from the town of Oak Bluffs for the restoration of the East Chop Lighthouse.

Gay Head Light

In 1799, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts deeded two acres and four rods to the Federal Government for the site of the lighthouse.   A wooden lighthouse structure and a keeper’s cottage and outbuildings were built, and on November 7th, the light was turned on for the first time.  In 1844, the light tower was moved back from the cliff edge 75 feet,  at a cost of $386.87.  In August 1954, Congress approved a request for $30,000 for the total replacement of the tower, light and dwelling house and a first order Fresnel lens to be ordered.  In 1855, the Henri Lepaute manufactured Fresnel lens (to be shipped to Gay Head) won the Gold Medal at the Paris Exhibition of Industry.  The next year, the 35 foot high lighthouse tower (with Fresnel lens) and keepers' house, both constructed of brick, were completed.  In 1902, a wooden structure replaced the brick Keeper’s cottage.  In the same year, Charles W. Vanderhoop became Keeper, the first of Wampanoag heritage to do so in the light’s history.  A high intensity electric beacon replaced the Fresnel lens in 1952, which was donated to the Coast Guard.  It is now on display on the Martha’s Vineyard Museum's campus in Edgartown.  In 1956, the light was fully automated and the keeper’s dwelling was torn down.  The light was opened to the public for the first time in 35 years on May 13, 1990.  In 1994, the Martha’s Vineyard Museum (formerly Martha's Vineyard Historical Society) took on the stewardship of the Gay Head, East Chop and Edgartown Harbor Lighthouses.

Cape Poge Lighthouse

The Cape Poge Lighthouse is Martha’s Vineyard’s most remote lighthouse, accessible by traveling via oversand vehicle nearly 4 miles through The Trustees of Reservations’ Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge or by waterway via boat.  This lighthouse is the Vineyard’s second oldest, originally erected in 1801. The wooden lighthouse has been moved seven times, and re-built three times in its history, with the current lighthouse dated to 1893.  Fully automated in 1943, the white flash is visible 9 miles at a frequency of 6 seconds.  The Cape Poge Lighthouse is owned by the United States Coast Guard, and managed by The Trustees of Reservations. 

Because the Cape Poge Lighthouse is located in the nesting area of several rare birds species, there is a small but real possibility that the lighthouse will not be open to visitors in compliance with the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act. In the event of closure, a partial refund will be given to all participants who are unable to visit the Cape Poge Lighthouse.

West Chop Lighthouse

The West Chop Lighthouse was the Island's last manned light. The lighthouse was built in 1817, and in 1838 the wooden building was replaced by the present brick structure. It was moved back from the edge of the 60-foot-high bluff in 1848 and again in 1891. In recent times, the small caretaker's cottage at its foot has been occupied by Coast Guard personnel. Vineyard Haven's harbor has been recognized as a port of protection since 1645, and for 300 years it was one of the most important ports on the Atlantic coast. Originally called "Holmes Hole," it acquired the name Vineyard Haven in 1871.

Visitors are invited to enjoy the grounds of the West Chop Lighthouse but the light itself will not be open due to unsafe conditions inside.