The tower on which the light stands, which seemed at a distance to be white, is in reality red, being made of pressed brick, and capped with freestone; it is forty feet high, and surmounted by an
Under a steady downpour on Tuesday, the Gay Head Light resumed its watch over Vineyard Sound and the waters off Aquinnah. A large crowd gathered in Aquinnah Circle, peering up from under their umbrellas and hoods to witness the end of the lighthouse’s longest period of darkness since 1856.
Following 118 days of darkness, the Gay Head Light will shine again on Tuesday, August 11. Lighthouse committee member Paula Eisenberg said the relighting would take place promptly at 6 p.m., and the public is invited to attend the ceremony and a celebration afterward.
Richard Skidmore and Joan LeLacheur, keepers of the Gay Head Light, have lived by the particular rhythms of the Gay Head Light for 25 years, tending to its mishaps and arranging countless visits with people from around the world.
Having long enjoyed several parking spots near the Gay Head Light, a small group of condominium residents in Aquinnah are feeling cramped by summer traffic at the Circle this year.
With the summer season picking up, managers for the Gay Head Light relocation project hope to have the site mostly restored by the Fourth of July. About half the excavated soil has been returned to the site and a new concrete-block foundation is nearly complete.
The town of Aquinnah will seek a cultural designation for the area around Aquinnah Circle, including the Gay Head Light, from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which promotes arts, sciences and humanities in the state.
