In 1854, a screw-pile lighthouse was installed until the “first significant ice damage” occurred in 1895 and the keepers were so frightened that they abandoned it.

The lighthouse was repaired, but just two years later, a more powerful sheet of floating ice uprooted the structure and carried it out to sea. After this, a sturdier version with a caisson foundation was built and installed – and this is the lighthouse you see today. The property is listed on the National Historic Registry and the Coast Guard maintains its lamp, which is still used as "an active aid to navigation", Washingtonian explains.

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