The Three Sisters

 Eastham, MA

The Highland Light in Truro had one steady burning light.

The Chatham Light had two towers, each burning a steady light.

Mariners could tell where they were based upon whether they saw
one light or two.

In 1836, residents of Eastham wrote to the Boston Marine Society
because of the many shipwrecks that were occurring offshore.
In 1837, Congress appropriated the money to build a light in Eastham.

To help mariners differentiate between the Highland Light in Truro to the
north and the Chatham Light in Chatham to the south,
it was decided to erect three towers and to burn three lights
to mark the dangerous Nauset sand bars off of Eastham.

These lighthouses came to be known as the Three Sisters, some say,
because they resembled  three girls wearing white dresses and
black hats.

The Three Sisters were replaced in the 1920's by the current
Nauset Light which is still in operation today.  The Three Sisters
can still be visited, however, because they have been preserved
in a clearing near the Nauset Light.

Directions to the Three Sisters Lighthouses:

Travel along Route 6 heading East towards Provincetown.
Turn right onto Nauset Road. (third traffic light after the
Orleans/Eastham rotary).  Follow Nauset Road and turn left
onto Cable Road.  Go to the end of Cable Road.
The three lighthouses will be in a clearing on the left.   If you
reach Ocean View Drive, and the Nauset Light, you have gone too far.
 

The history of Nauset Light and The Three Sisters
makes interesting reading at:
http://lighthouse.cc/nauset/history.html

For photos of the Three Sisters Lighthouses  visit:
 http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/555962866OXkVJV?start=0

More Three Sisters photos can be seen at:
http://www.nell.cc/2007LHHCY/ThreeSisters.htm