_Is the Second Most
Powerful Beacon on
the Atlantic Coast_
The second most powerful beacon on the Atlantic coast is located on the
far end of Cape Cod. Highland Light is situated near the edge of a high
bluff on the ocean side of North Truro. Its nightly beam, revolving and
flashing to all points of the compass, has guided mariners for almost
150 years.
The champ of all beacons on this coast is Neversink Light, at Sandy
Hook.
Countless summer visitors would look over Highland Light in peacetime,
but now, of course, visitors are barred. They came from every state
in the union and from foreign places, for this faithful landmark has
always been a standard attraction for the Cape Cod sightseer. Chief
Boatswain’s Mate William Joseph, who has been in charge of the light
for a long while, recalls they asked some odd questions. For example:
“Is the light lit in the wintertime?”
“Do you stay here year ’round?”
“Does the fog start up the foghorn?”
“Why do you keep ‘blankets’ on the lenses in the daytime?”
“Does the tide ever come over the banking (the edge of the banking is a
mere 140 feet above the shoreline)?”
“Did you ever help catch rum-runners with the light?”
“How do you keep awake all night long?”