The tower that eventually became Nauset Light was constructed in 1877 as one of two towers in
Chatham. It was moved to Eastham in 1923 to replace the
Three Sisters of Nauset, three small wood lighthouses that had been decommissioned. They have since been relocated to a small field about west of the Nauset Light. The Light was automated and the Keeper's house was sold in 1955. The original fourth-order Fresnel lens was removed in 1981 and replaced with aerobeacons. Due to
coastal erosion, by the early 1990s Nauset Light was less than from the edge of the cliff on which it stood. In 1993, the Coast Guard proposed decommissioning the light. Following a great public outcry, the non-profit Nauset Light Preservation Society was formed and funded, and in 1995, it leased the lighthouse from the Coast Guard. The Society arranged for both the tower and the brick oil house to be relocated, in November 1996, to a location west of its original position – which by then was only from the cliff's edge. The move was accomplished successfully by International Chimney Corporation, which had moved the larger
Highland Light a similar distance earlier that year, with assistance from Expert Movers and a consultant, Pete Friesen. The light was again lit on May 10, 1997. During the ceremony at that time, the Coast Guard transferred ownership of the lighthouse to the National Park Service, but the operation was assumed by the Nauset Light Preservation Society. In 1998, Mary Daubenspeck, who had owned the Keeper's House (and Oil House) privately since 1982 (having purchased both from Miriam Rowell, who with her husband Lucien had become the first private residential owners in 1955), elected not to move the Keeper's House to a privately owned lot distant from the Lighthouse, but rather agreed to donate it to the National Park Service in the interest of posterity and so as to preserve the Nauset Light landmark's authenticity -- while retaining the right to occupy it for 25 years. It was agreed that the house would be moved from its original location, then only from the edge of the cliff, to a new location near the relocated tower. The move was completed in October 1998 by Gary Sylvester's Building Movers & Excavators. Mary Daubenspeck had previously donated the Oil House in 1996 so that it could be moved at the same time as the Lighthouse.
Lighthouse keepers The following individuals were keepers of this light after the tower was moved to Eastham from the Chatham Light in 1923. Visitors can tour the light and the oil house on Sundays from May to late October and also on Wednesdays during July and August. It appears on a "Cape Cod & Islands" special license plate which was introduced in 1996 and generates revenue for local counties and development organizations. It was added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1987 as
Nauset Beach Light. The Keeper's House has been turned back over to public operation by the Daubenspeck Family as of April 2024, at the expiration of the term of their limited use permit. The history of the Keeper's House has been recorded in the two books authored by Mary E. Daubenspeck, the second (posthumously) with her brother, Timothy H. Daubenspeck, who served as Keeper's House manager for the Daubenspeck family from 2001 to 2024, after Mary died in 2001. The books are entitled; "NAUSET LIGHT: A Personal History" (Mary E Daubenspeck, 1995) and "NAUSET LIGHT: A Personal Legacy" (Mary E Daubenspeck and Timothy H Daubenspeck, 2024). ==See also==