The, ‘I Love You’ or ‘I Miss You’, lighthouse is perched facing out into the Atlantic, on the very exposed Minot’s Ledge named after George Minot an 18th Century Boston Merchant, who lost a valuable ship on the rocks prior to the lighthouse. The ledge is part of the Cohasset Rocks¹, off Massachusetts, USA.

When in 1894 a new flashing lantern was installed in the 34 year old lighthouse it had a 1-4-3 sequence² and very soon the number sequence was taken to represent ‘I Love You’ or ‘I Miss You’ (I /1 flash, Love /4 flashes, You /3 flashes). Over the years this simple lighthouse code has been a comfort to sailors from the area, their sweethearts and families. The story is now widely known and the code is much loved for itself.

The History of the Lighthouse

Prior to the light large amounts of shipping and lives³ had been lost on the wave washed ledges which are only exposed for 2-3 hours a day. The local Indian tribe believed ‘Hobomock’, an evil spirit, lived beneath the ledges and was responsible for storms; his jagged rock teeth wrecking any unfortunate or wayward shipping. In 1838 a committee was formed to report on the feasibility of constructing a lighthouse on the ledge. However, it was not until 1847 that Congress gave the go ahead and $20,000 for the enterprise. It would take a further $24,000 and almost three years to complete the task.

Although the English Eddystone lighthouse had been considered as a model, the first permanent structure was a 70 foot high iron piling tower drilled into the rock ledge. It was thought that the waves would flow more easily through the skeletal nature of the structure. Not only was it quicker to build, but less expensive than a stone tower. It was first lit on January 1, 1850, but it proved unsafe for the keepers as waves swept over the ledge. Reportedly it was so unsteady, swaying two feet in either direction, that the first keeper quit after 10 months and the pet cat jumped off to its death in the waves below.

A year later, during the night of 16th April 1851 a huge storm swept the tower and the two remaining young assistant keepers off the ledge. Joseph Antoine, a Portuguese, and Joseph Wilson, an Englishman, both died, but Keeper Bennett survived fortunately having rowed ashore earlier and unable to return because of the storm.
A new lighthouse was needed - in the meantime a lightship was put on station. Lightships are fine, but the light is not as high as a tower and is subject to wind, wave and tide. Once it was lit it was said to be like ‘farthing candles’ ⁴ compared to the original lighthouse.

Work on a new stone lighthouse was begun in 1855, but two years into the build the vessel ‘The New Empire’ wrecked the initial frameworks. Work had to be restarted. Constructed from 3,514 tons⁵ of worked stone, 1079 dovetail-jointed granite blocks were assembled on land, dismantled and then ferried out to the ledge. Three years later on June 29, 1860 the last stone was laid and at a cost of $300,000 it was one of the most expensive lighthouses built. Remarkably, no workers were lost on the ledge, due in part to the foresight of having only men who could swim to work on the rock and a diver attending. The first 40 feet (12.19 m) are solid with access by ladder or hauling up by rope and stands unpainted at 114 foot (34.75 m) high with its light at 85 feet (25.91 m). November 15, 1860 saw the lantern first lit. A flashing lantern installed in 1894, automated in 1947, converted in 1983 to solar power and restored in 1989.

Once built the human cost of the light continued. Storms would throw huge waves right over the top of the lighthouse whilst the winter would ice everything over. The first keeper of the Lighthouse quit after a year and one assistant keeper was reported as being unable to cope with cornerless rooms and was going mad. The weather and lonely existence was enough to test the toughest of men particularly as there were also stories of supernatural happenings.

There were tales of a bell ringing in the night, of knockings and two spectral figures, supposedly the lost assistant keepers up by the light. There were also reports of their images being seen in reflections of the lighthouse on calm seas. Even after automation, as bad weather closed in, there were reports from passing sailors heading for safe haven of a man clinging to a ladder yelling and screaming. Later, a Portuguese fisherman saw the man on the ladder claimed he was calling for help in his own language. Logical considering Joseph Antoine was also from Portugal.

Other than its role in saving lives and shipping the lighthouse came to prominence, so the story goes, when the Coastguard⁶ proposed changing the light sequence and converting it to a computerised system. It may have just been a rumour, but naturally, there was an outcry from the local population over the proposed loss of their ‘secret’ message in the flashes. However, it is still flashing its ‘143’ message much to the delight the local people and the many romantics around the world who use this code, not to mention the producers of ‘Minot Ledge’ merchandise.

Incidentally, the number 143 is the product of the sequential prime numbers 11 and 13; 11 x 13= 143. If the pair are added, 11 + 13= 24, and with the digits reversed, 24= 42.