BRING THE LIGHT HOME!

For nearly a century, a 4th Order Fresnel lens guided ships safely into the Port of Salem. Today it is on display in Rockland, Maine — two hundred miles from the lighthouse it was made to serve. Help us bring it back to Bakers Island.

Funding Needed: $20,000

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A lens made for Bakers Island

Bakers Island Light Station has guided mariners into the Port of Salem since 1791 — one of the oldest navigational aids in the country. In the years after the American Revolution, Salem was one of the most important international ports in the new Republic, and the customs duties on its trade helped fund the young nation itself. The lighthouse was its sentinel.

The 4th Order Fresnel lens installed in the tower was a marvel of 19th-century optics — hundreds of precisely ground glass prisms arrayed to capture a single flame and project it miles out to sea. Lighthouse keepers tended it daily, polishing each prism, trimming the wick, and climbing the tower at dusk regardless of weather or season.

When the light was automated and the keepers departed, the lens was saved by “Mr. Lighthouse” and decorated Coast Guardsman, Ken Black, who rescued numerous lighthouse artifacts and displayed them at the Shore Village Museum (today the Maine Lighthouse Museum) in Rockland, Maine, where it has been held, and is a part of the Coast Guard’s Heritage Asset Collection. The lens remains Coast Guard property, and we have worked closely with Coast Guard Curatorial Services to arrange its loan — a long-term return to the island it was built to serve.

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More than an artifact

The return of this lens is not simply a museum acquisition. It is a reunion. The Lantern House where the lens will be displayed is the same building where keepers once prepared it for service each day. Bringing it back closes a circle that has been open for decades.

When visitors step inside the Lantern House this summer, they will be able to stand next to the actual lens that once sent light across Salem Sound. Children who have never thought about lighthouses will understand, in an instant, what it meant to keep the light burning.

1791

Year Bakers Island first lit

200+

Miles the lens has traveled from home

4th Order

Fresnel lens classification

What we need to make this happen

The US Coast Guard has agreed in principle to a long-term loan of the lens to Essex Heritage. Our task now is to make the Lantern House ready to receive it — and to cover the costs of bringing the lens home safely.

Your gift will fund:

Custom display case construction
A purpose-built, secure enclosure designed around the lens dimensions, built to protect the lens from handling and damage while displaying it to best effect.
Professional transportation and handling
Specialized packing, transport from Rockland, ME, and final landing and installation on a remote island accessible only by boat.
Lampist condition assessment
Required by the Coast Guard: a professional lampist will conduct a baseline assessment of the lens upon arrival and prepare a written report documenting its condition.
UV protection and environmental monitoring
UV-filtering window film and a digital temperature/humidity data logger to protect the lens and meet Coast Guard care requirements.
Interpretive exhibit development
New panels and materials that tell the story of the lens, the keepers who tended it, and its journey from Bakers Island to Rockland and back.

Join the Lighthouse Keepers

Every gift, at any level, brings this lens one step closer to home. Named giving levels are listed below.

All gifts to Essex Heritage are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Essex Heritage is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

$50

FRIEND OF THE LIGHT
Recognition on our donor list and a warm thank-you from the island.
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$250

KEEPER’S CIRCLE
Recognition on donor list and an invitation to a special preview event when the lens arrives.
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$500

LAMPIST
All above plus your name on a recognition plaque in the Lantern House.
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$1,000

PRISM SOCIETY
All above plus a private tour of Bakers Island for you and up to three guests.
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Lead gift

$5,000+

LIGHTHOUSE GUARDIAN
All above plus recognition as a founding donor of the lens exhibit and a personalized acknowledgment from Essex Heritage leadership.
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What donors ask

Does the lens actually belong to Essex Heritage?
The lens remains the property of the US Coast Guard. Through a formal loan agreement with Coast Guard Curatorial Services, it will be placed in Essex Heritage’s care on a long-term, renewable basis — effectively a permanent home at its original light station.
When will the lens arrive?
We are targeting spring 2026 for the lens to be in place. The island’s summer season opens in May, and we hope visitors will be able to see the lens in its new home from the very first tour day.
How do I get to Bakers Island to see it?
Bakers Island is accessible by boat from Salem, May through October. Essex Heritage operates regular day tours, overnight stays, and volunteer days throughout the season. Visit essexheritage.org for the current schedule.
What if the campaign raises more than the goal?
Additional funds will support ongoing care of the lens and the broader preservation of Bakers Island Light Station, including the remaining historic structures on the property.

ABOUT ESSEX HERITAGE

Essex National Heritage Commission, Inc. (Essex Heritage) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the regional heritage organization for Essex County, Massachusetts. Since receiving Bakers Island Light Station from the US Coast Guard in 2014, Essex Heritage has restored the lighthouse and both keepers’ houses, opened the site to public tours and overnight stays, and built a community of supporters known as Bakers Backers whose generosity has made the work possible. This campaign is the next chapter in that story.