"As stewards of our beloved Sconset landmark, Sconset Trust completes important work every three to four years to help protect and preserve our lighthouse." That's how Executive Director Julie Ruddick Meade put it in a letter to The Inquirer and Mirror announcing that restoration work would start September 9 and run "through the next few months."
So if you've driven up past the lighthouse this fall and found barriers and work crews, you're seeing the routine and not an emergency. Sankaty has been through rounds like this before, and much of what you see on the tower today came out of earlier ones. The fence is a regular part of owning a working 1850 lighthouse.
Phase III, and the Fourth Request
The 2026 Annual Town Meeting warrant lists a Community Preservation request of $263,249 for "The Sconset Trust – Phase III Preservation of Sankaty Head Light." The warrant calls it "the fourth request for funding to continue to address the needs of the lighthouse." The approved scope covers masonry, windows, doors, metalwork and the Lantern Room floor, all to be restored under the Secretary of the Interior's Standards.
The crews on site are from Finkle Preservation & Construction. The Nantucket Current reported that the work includes resealing the lantern room glass, masonry repairs, metalwork and repainting the exterior. The Current's photos show the painters at work on a Monday in early October.
The same warrant entry explains what the money protects. It calls Sankaty "one of the oldest U.S. Coast Guard lighthouses still in operation" and a landmark on the National Register of Historic Places. It says the work will keep the tower in use "as a navigational aid, public educational site and open conservation space." The steady rhythm comes from that first job. The tower is still an active aid to navigation, so its glass, masonry and metal have to hold up to a working light every night.
Here's the track record that led up to this fall, according to the Trust's own records:
- October 1 to 9, 2007. The tower was pushed 405 feet northwest over nine days by International Chimney Corp. of Buffalo, New York, and Expert House Movers of Sharptown, Maryland. The Trust raised more than $4 million between 2006 and 2008 to pay for the move, the restoration and new landscaping.
- 2017. The Trust set up the Lighthouse Maintenance Fund to keep Sankaty preserved and maintained for future generations.
- 2022. International Chimney came back for a restoration paid for by a Community Preservation grant and gala donations. The Trust's 2022 annual report notes that surprises along the way caused delays. By that year, the tower's 1884 staircase had been completely restored.
- End of 2023. A new rotating LED beacon went in at the top. More on that below.
- Fall 2026. Phase III began on the September 9 start date in the Trust's letter, and the Nantucket Current's early-October photos show Finkle's crews still at work.
Count from 2022 to 2026 and you get the "every three to four years" the Trust describes.
The Lantern on Top Is Not the Original
Every few years of upkeep does more than fix things. Over time it replaces them, and Sankaty is now a stack of different eras. The Trust's interpretive signs at the site lay out the timeline, and the Trust has posted them as a PDF.
| Part of the tower | Dates | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Brick tower | Construction began 1849, first lit 1850 | Built for $10,000, according to the Trust's 2017 newsletter |
| First lantern | 1850 to 1888 | Wrought-iron frame with a copper roof, sitting on a circular granite base |
| Iron lantern | 1888 to 1969 | All-iron enclosure that lasted 80 years before the Coast Guard demolished it |
| Today's lantern | After 1969 | Aluminum replica built after public outcry over the "topless" tower |
| Staircase | 1884 | Replaced the steep original stairs, fully restored by 2022 |
| Beacon | End of 2023 | MSM 300R rotating LED |
So the lantern room crews are resealing this fall is a replica. It went up after the Coast Guard pulled off the 1888 iron lantern in 1969 to install a weatherproof beacon, which left the tower with no lantern at all. Once people complained, an aluminum copy was built specially, and the signs say it's the same lantern visitors see today.
The stairs have their own history. The first spiral steps were 12 inches apart, which made the keepers' nightly 52-foot climb to the watch deck hard going. The 1884 staircase eased that, and it's the one the Trust restored in 2022.
Why the Beam Got Brighter in 2023
The light at the top has changed more often than the tower around it. Sankaty first shone through a French-made 2nd Order Fresnel lens, lit by whale oil and kerosene until it was electrified in 1933. In 1950 the lens was swapped for a Carlisle & Finch aerobeacon, and three DCB-224 units in a row did the job until the last one failed in 2020.
Its 2020 replacement was a Vega VRB-25, and the Trust's sign says plainly that "the public was disappointed in its weaker output." The Trust took the issue to the Coast Guard, and by the end of 2023 a bright MSM 300R rotating LED was shining over the shoals. The Inquirer and Mirror reported in December 2023 that Coast Guard Aids to Navigation personnel from Woods Hole did the installation.
The timing of the flash never changed. Through all of those swaps, Sankaty has kept flashing every 7.5 seconds.
That split in duties explains the Trust's role in this fall's work. The Coast Guard handles the beacon. The Trust owns the building that holds the beacon up, and that building is what Phase III is restoring: the glass the beam shines through, the floor under the optic, and the masonry and metal that keep salt air out. The warrant ties the restoration directly to the tower's "continued use as a navigational aid."
The Move That Set Up the Maintenance Clock
The 2007 relocation is the reason a maintenance schedule exists at all. When construction began in 1849, Sankaty stood about 280 feet back from the edge of the bluff. By 2007 that gap was down to 76 feet. The move pushed the tower 405 feet northwest, and it now sits about 250 feet from the edge.
The Trust raised more than $4 million between 2006 and 2008 for the move, the restoration that came with it and the new landscaping. Then it took another step. In 2017 it created the Lighthouse Maintenance Fund so that upkeep would be planned rather than left to emergencies. The rounds since then have each had their own funding. Community Preservation money and gala donations covered the 2022 restoration, Coast Guard crews installed the 2023 beacon, and this fall's Phase III runs on a Community Preservation grant.
What the Closed Gate Means Until Spring
This fall's work has one direct cost for neighbors. The Trust's letter says the lighthouse and the area around it "will be closed and blocked off for the safety of our community and the construction team." It also says the Trust "will not be able to hold our Fall Lighthouse Open Day this year."
The Trust hasn't given an end date beyond "the next few months." Its letter invites anyone with questions about the work or the reopening to contact the Trust directly.
The next chance to go inside is the June Lighthouse Open Day, which the letter mentions by name. The Trust's calendar lists the next Spring Lighthouse Open Day for June 19, 2027, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The 2026 Open Day gives a sense of how it usually runs:
- Tower climbs ran from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on June 20.
- Climbers had to be at least 7 years old and come with an adult.
- Reservations were required, and registration opened June 15, five days before the event.
With only five days between registration and climb day in 2026, it's worth watching the Trust's event page in early June. Next year's climbers will walk up the 1884 stairs into a lantern room with freshly resealed glass and a restored floor.
When upkeep is routine, it shows up in property conversations too. A landmark that's steadily cared for is part of what a 'Sconset address means. If you own near Sankaty and want to know where your home stands this fall, John McGarr can walk you through a free home valuation based on village sales.
