Ipswich Range Lights

42°41′07″N 70°45′58″W / 42.6852°N 70.7662°W / 42.6852; -70.7662TowerConstructed1838 Ipswich Range Rear Light Coordinates42°41′6.9″N 70°45′58.2″W / 42.685250°N 70.766167°W / 42.685250; -70.766167Constructed1838ConstructionOriginal, Brick
1881, cast iron
1939, steelHeight6 m (20 ft) ShapeConical/conical/skeletonMarkingsWhite/white/Daymark NRFirst lit1939 (current skeleton tower)Focal height30 feet (9.1 m)Range5 nmi (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) CharacteristicOriginal, fixed
Soon thereafter, revolving
Current, occulting white, 4 seconds Ipswich Range Front Light Constructed1838 ConstructionOriginal, Brick
Later, woodHeight29 ft (8.8 m) ShapeOriginal, conical
Later, shantyMarkingswhite Deactivated1932 

The Ipswich Range Lights are a pair of range lights on Crane Beach in Ipswich, Massachusetts.^[1][2] They have a long and varied story. They were first built as two brick towers, 542 feet (165 m) apart on a more or less east–west line in 1838. The movement of the sands led to shifting of the towers and by 1881 the rear tower, Ipswich Rear Range Light, was badly cracked. It was replaced by a cast-iron tower, while by 1867 the front light, Ipswich Front Range Light, had been replaced by a movable wood structure that could be shifted as the channel shifted. The front light was discontinued in 1932 and the rear light was replaced in 1938 with a skeleton tower. It, or its replacement, is still in service today. The 1881 cast-iron rear tower was loaded on a barge and shipped to Edgartown, Massachusetts, where it replaced the Edgartown Harbor Light that had been destroyed in the Hurricane of 1938.^[1]

The modern light tower, located on the site of the Ipswich Range Rear Light as described above, is shown on Coast Guard lists and NOAA charts as Ipswich Light.^[2] It displays a white light which occults once every 4 seconds.