Nobska Point Light is an excellent example of an intact light station complex including a cast-iron tower, two keeper's dwellings and oil house. It is located on a rocky promontory overlooking the entrance to Woods Hole Harbor and the junction of Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds with Buzzards Bay. Established in 1828, the original light station consisted of a typical Cape Cod-style dwelling with an octagonal tower and lantern room rising from the roof. The present Nobska Light replaced the original light station in 1876. The 40-foot tall, cylindrical, iron tower was cast in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and transported to Woods Hole in four sections. It was constructed on site and painted a reddish-brown color. Workers built a one-and-one-half-story Victorian keeper's dwelling and a brick oil house at the same time. A fifth-order Fresnel lens topped the tower until a larger, fourth-order lens replaced it in 1888. An enclosed walkway joined the tower and keeper's dwelling in 1899, and an assistant keeper's dwelling was built in 1900.

Nobska Point Light retained civilian keepers at the light until November 1972, despite the fact that the U.S. Coast Guard subsumed the duties of the Lighthouse Service in 1939. It was automated and unmanned by 1985. Today, it operates as an active aid to navigation and the keeper's dwelling serves as a home for the commander of Coast Guard Group Woods Hole. - NPS