History of Wings Neck Lighthouse

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Due to heavy marine traffic through Buzzards Bay to ports in Wareham and Sandwich, the light house was built to warn ships traveling at night. When the Cape Cod Canal opened in 1914, Wings Neck Lighthouse assumed its valuable role in guiding ships safely through the bay. The first lighthouse at Wings Neck was a Cape Cod-style light keeper's house with a lantern placed on the roof. 

 In 1889, damage from an earlier fire and general disrepair forced the construction of a new lighthouse. The present keeper's house, with its attached hexagonal wooden tower, was built to replace the old Cape Cod-style house. 

For many years, Wings Neck was deemed one of the most important lighthouses on the Atlantic Coast because of the heavy shipping in the Cape Cod Canal, but by 1943 new technology was making the lighthouse obsolete. The property was sold by the government in 1947 to Frank and Irene Flanagan. They loved the property and enjoyed a long retirement until Irene passed on in 1999. 

In 2003, the keeper's cottage was completely renovated and is now available for weekly rentals all year round.