When the Gay Head Lighthouse completed its move back from the eroding cliff 10 years ago, construction workers threw their helmets into the air and popped champagne bottles before making their way to the town hall for a potluck.
On Friday, the town gathered again to reminisce on the move and celebrate the final step of the latest preservation project – the installation of a LED light, which restored the original flash pattern, and the correction of structural issues to the curtain wall and lantern deck.
“The light now casts out to sea those four [original] beams for the first time since 1989,” lighthouse keeper Chris Manning said during a ceremony at the foot of the lighthouse. “It is a sight new to some and for others it’s reminiscent of days gone by.”
The celebration began with a song by Durwood Vanderhoop and Tobias Vanderhoop with the Black Brook Singers. Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) member Carole Vandal also played a piece on her flute.
A moment of silence followed honoring Len Butler, who died in 2023 and is remembered for his work preserving the lighthouse, which garnered him the moniker of “The Man Who Moved the Lighthouse.”
“I’m very happy to be standing here today, next to the queen, for this celebration and salute,” said Mallory Butler, Len’s wife. “And I’m even happier not to be standing out in a canoe [on] Devil’s Bridge, looking at a beach covered with mountains of Vineyard red brick and asking ourselves ‘why didn’t we?’”
Ms. Butler described watching the International Chimney Company, which moved the lighthouse 130 feet from the eroding cliff, carefully rub ivory soap onto the rails for which the lighthouse slid on to its new resting place.
“When we watched the extraordinary men from the International Chimney, we were not watching heavy equipment operators out there,” Ms. Butler said. “We were watching neurosurgeons performing delicate, calculated and extremely challenging surgery on a patient who did not have much longer to live.”
Tyler Finkle, a division manager at ICC Commonwealth, said it was an honor to move the lighthouse 10 years ago and complete the most recent restoration. He thanked the town for welcoming the workers into their community during the project and honored Mr. Butler.
“We always aim to make the right decisions for the community, for the lighthouse, and Len always gave pause, took a minute, asked for our opinion and we would tell him what we thought, and he respected our experience and we did his,” Mr. Finkle said. “I really hope that we made him proud.”
Bill Lake, chair of the energy committee for the town, said he’s delighted to have the new LED beacon, which flashes the original pattern of white-white-white-red.
“[The lighthouse] has been there for over 100 years, and we want it to be there in another 100 years,” Mr. Lake said. “There’s sort of a symbolism about an LED light that goes on almost forever.”
The lighthouse’s resilience is just one of the ways it shines for the people of Aquinnah.
Martha Vanderhoop, who owns the Matmarcha Gifts shop on the Aquinnah Cliffs, said the lighthouse guides ships to safety, serves as a reminder of the generations of people that took care of the land and honors Wampanoag legacy. Her grandfather, Charles Vanderhoop, was the first Wampanoag man to be the lighthouse’s principal keeper.
“He stood watch through storms and calm, not just a keeper of ships and sailors, but as a guardian of tradition, dignity and continuity,” Ms. Vanderhoop said. “He was more than just a lighthouse keeper. He was a steward of this land and water, just as our people have been for thousands of years.”
Within the brick and glass of the lighthouse are stories of family and memory, Ms. Vanderhoop added.
“Today, as we reopen this lighthouse, we don’t just restore a building,” she said. “We rekindle a story – a story of caretaking, of culture, of connection to this land and sea and all it represents.”
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