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Boston lighthouses: 12 to visit nearby

Editor's note: This map was originally published in May 2016, and has been updated with the most recent information.

Massachusetts has dozens of lighthouses, but only a relative handful are officially open to the public. Many of these, too, are open only during the warmer months.

Here are a dozen options relatively close to Boston proper. Most are located in Martha's Vineyard and along Cape Cod. Check the websites for contact info and tour hours.

[Sources: VisitNewEngland.com ; NewEnglandLighthouses.net ]

Plum Island Light

The current tower was built in 1898, and the original was built 110 years before. Also called Newburyport Harbor Light, the tower is open on select dates, weather permitting.

Marblehead Light

This spindly lighthouse dates from 1895, when it replaced the original brick-and-wood one constructed in 1835.

It is open to the public through special arrangement only.

Boston Light

This lighthouse dates from 1716, and is the oldest continuously used lighthouse in the U.S. of A. On certain days, it is open for tours, which include a 76-step climb to the top.

Highland Light

Deemed the oldest lighthouse on Cape Cod (George Washington ordered its original construction), the current structure dates from 1857. It is open to the public as part of the much wider Cape Cod National Seashore.

Three Sisters of Nauset

The National Park Service took control of this trio of 15-foot lighthouses in 1975. They were restored in the 1980s, though their roots date from the 1830s.

Nauset Lighthouse

Preservationists moved the lighthouse in 1996 from the edge of a 60-foot cliff. It is open for tours.

Great Point Light

This lighthouse dates only from 1986, a replica of lighthouse a storm destroyed two years before. That structure dated from 1817, and had replaced the original wooden lighthouse dating from 1797. (Got that?) It is open to the public as part of wider tours of the area.

Chatham Light

The second-oldest lighthouse on Cape Cod, this structure originally dates to 1808. The current one, though, went up about 70 years later.

Cape Poge Light

The Cape Poge lighthouse, which dates from 1893, is part of a much larger wildlife refuge. Tours are available with a reservation. Its light is 63 feet up and can be seen 9 miles out to sea.

Ned's Point Light

The original lighthouse here dated from the late 1830s, and the current one from a series of moves in the 1890s and early 1900s. It is open to the public for much of the summer.

Gay Head Light

In early 2015, the lighthouse was moved 129 feet away from eroding cliffs. The original structure was built in 1796, making Gay Head the oldest lighthouse on Martha's Vineyard. The current one dates from the 1850s, however, and is open to the public during the summer.

Nobska Point Light

The Town of Falmouth formally took control of the lighthouse from the Coast Guard in the spring of 2016. It dates from the 1820s, and it is open for tours as is the surrounding 4-acre preserve.