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Scituate Light

In the year 1810 the United States Congress voted $4000 to build a lighthouse at Scituate Harbor. The Light, of split granite blocks with a one and one half sto...
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In the year 1810 the United States Congress voted $4000 to build a lighthouse at Scituate Harbor. The Light, of split granite blocks with a one and one half story house attached, was activated in 1811.

Captain Simeon Bates, the first keeper of Scituate Lighthouse, his wife, and nine children lived at the house. During the War of 1812 Abigail and Rebecca, young daughters of the lighthouse keeper, prevented the British from sacking the town. Noting the approach of two redcoat-filled barges from a British ship of war, the girls snatched fife and drum and hiding behind a thick cluster of cedar trees made such a din that the British mistook them for an entire regiment and made a hasty retreat. Abigail and Rebecca Bates have gone down in history as 'The American Army of Two" and their courageous act has been recorded in many textbooks and story books.
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