North Shore Lighthouses: A Local's Guide to Six Lights Worth the Drive

Start at Salem's Derby Wharf, where the small brick Derby Wharf Light, built in 1871, sits at the end of a long walk into Salem Harbor, inside Salem Maritime National Historic Site, the nation's first national historic site. It was deactivated in 1977 and relit in 1983, and it is the easiest light on this list to reach on foot.

Just across the harbor, Beverly's Hospital Point Light, a 44-foot brick tower first lit in 1872, still marks the channel into Salem and Beverly Harbors. It is one of only five lighthouses in Massachusetts still showing its original Fresnel lens, and it is a favorite sight on any harbor tour.

Gloucester earns two entries. Eastern Point Light, first lit in 1832, stands east of the harbor entrance, its white brick tower framed by the breakwater that makes the classic photo. Annisquam Light, established in 1801 at Wigwam Point, is one of the oldest light stations in Massachusetts and marks the northern entrance to the Annisquam River route.

Both towers are closed to the public, but the views around them are public and spectacular, a good reminder that on the North Shore the best scenery is usually beside the water, not behind a gate.

Rockport's Thacher Island holds the only fully operational twin lights in the United States: two 124-foot granite towers, first built in 1771 under British rule and rebuilt in 1861. The island is a National Historic Landmark, named for Anthony Thacher, who survived the 1635 wreck of the Watch and Wait, and seasonal boat access makes the climb one to plan ahead for.

At the north end of Newburyport's Plum Island, the wooden Newburyport Harbor Light has marked the mouth of the Merrimack River since the original station of 1788 and the current 35-foot tower of 1898. It is still an active aid to navigation, the perfect end to a drive up Route 1A, and a good excuse to read up on the barrier beach that shaped the coast.

Lighthouses are not decoration; they mark working water, channels, current, and weather, the same forces a coastal buyer should understand before buying on the water. The flood zone answer and the waterfront buyer's guide get into the practical side.

And if you end up house hunting along this coast, you will already know the landmarks by name, which is exactly how a local should talk about home.