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On a Sunday afternoon in late October 2024, Nauset Beach lightkeepers Glenn Stockwell and I, joined by my father, accompanied Race Point lightkeeper Gary Childs to the 1857 Sandy Neck Light in Barnstable on Cape Cod. Sandy Neck Beach creates a protective barrier for Barnstable Harbor from the open waters of Cape Cod Bay. The light’s location nearly at Beach Point marks lands’ end and the entrance to the expansive harbor.
In 2007, the privately owned light station was outfitted with a fabricated lantern through efforts of the Sandy Neck Light Restoration Committee, after having been deactivated in 1931. The Cape Cod Chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation became permitted by the U.S. Coast Guard to operate the light as a private aid to navigation. The current optic is a 300 mm Tidelands lens illuminated by an LED which flashes a two second flash every four seconds, visible for 10 nautical miles. The Cape Cod Chapter also manages the Race Point, Wood End, and Long Point Lights in Provincetown, and like Sandy Neck, all are located on isolated sandy beaches.
On this particular day, we ventured out the six miles over sand to ensure the beacon was operating properly and to change out the two marine batteries which hold the charge from the single solar panel. Gary and I had the pleasure of carrying those batteries up and down Sandy Neck’s narrow spiral staircase. It made me think that carrying gallons of kerosene up those same steps years before wasn’t much different, lending credence to the phrase, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
After testing the equipment, we took in the views of the barrier beach and harbor during the clear skies. Keeping a light, even in modern times still beats an office job in any weather.
While Sandy Neck Beach is open to those with over-sand permits, the light station and surrounding area are not open to the public. Please respect private property. Sandy Neck Light can be viewed from Millway Beach in Barnstable Village or best from the water.
This story appeared in the
Jan/Feb 2025 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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