moving sankaty
62 inches every 10 minutes
FIRST PUSH SET FOR MONDAY
by Peter B. Brace Photos by Rob Benchley
No ribbons will be cut, no longwinded pontifications will be uttered and no mass release of balloons is planned for the first day of moving Sankaty Head Lighthouse 390 feet.

Sometime during the afternoon of Oct. 1, at the urging of a hydraulic horizontal jacking system capable of pushing the lighthouse 62 inches per stroke, rows of pistons working in concert will grunt to life with the flick of several levers by Expert House Movers President Jerri Matyiko.

Matyiko and his crew are ahead of schedule and plan to take a few days off this week before returning to the island for final moving preparations, 'Sconset Trust President Bob Felch said yesterday.

After lifting the lighthouse nearly three feet out of the ground on Sept. 18 and 19, and fully expecting at least five feet of the original brick foundation to separate from the lighthouse - so much so that its new foundation makes up the anticipated difference - Expert House Movers had to jackhammer off an additional 18 inches of brick foundation while the lighthouse was jacked up on steel support beams this week.

Felch said the plan is to build two-and-a-half feet of new brick pedestal off the new foundation to

join with the lighthouse.

After adjustments over the weekend, the lighthouse is now ready to be pushed down the roller beams.

"The bottom set of beams known as rocker beams were put in place on Saturday," said Felch. "The move is still set for next week starting on Oct. 1. The only possible delay of 24 hours might occur because of work needed for preparing the move path."

The rocker beams are part of the beam system that allows the lighthouse to move level along the ground before it eventually drops a total of seven feet onto its new foundation.

Watching all of the action will be tough for the public unless you happen to be part of the crew, but Felch said getting closer is a possibility for anyone who wants to volunteer to manage crowds on the periphery of the project area. The 'Sconset Trust is still looking for volunteers to work with the Nantucket Police Department and the Department of Public Works to keep pedestrian and vehicular traffic flowing. The volunteers will work two-hour shifts between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 1 through Oct. 8. Volunteers will be trained to answer questions about the move and about the history of the lighthouse.

Workers from Expert House Movers chip away at bricks underneath the suspended lighthouse last Thursday; the cobblestones in the slightly skewed photo make up the actual foundation of the 157-year-old structure. When it was lifted last week, the entire building came off the ground intact. On Monday, most of all the steel work was finished. The yellow beam is called the "strong back" and ties in with six cross beams below, which in turn are connected to the two green "main beams""which house the sixteen 60-ton hydraulic jacks. Monday it will all move as one.

The Trust will also have several police patrols managing the flow of traffic around the move site on Polpis Road and Baxter Road, and all motorized traffic on Baxter Road traveling north of Bayberry Lane will be halted from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the week.

Although there are legions of lighthouse buffs and aficionados across the country, Felch could not put a number as to how many onlookers to expect.

"We have no idea," he said. "We do think a lot of people will turn out. We don't know if they will turn out on a daily basis or if one visit will suffice."

The 'Sconset Trust is cordoning off the southern section of the meadow between the northern end of Baxter Road and the edge of the bluff as a public viewing area. Chain-link fence will keep viewers away from the edge of the bluff and contained away from the actual job site. Felch said the entire move

will be seen easily from this area. I
ABOUT SANKATY
• Sankaty: Spelled Sankoty by Native American
Nantucketers and means "highland"
• 1843: The year Engineer I.W.P. Lewis identified
the need for a lighthouse at Sankaty Head
• $250: Amount the U.S. Government paid George
Myrick for Sankaty's 10 acres in 1848
• Lighthouse builder: Engineer Benjamin F.

ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent This aerial photo taken in September shows Sankay Lighthouse and the concrete pad to which it will be moved 390 feet to its northwest.

Isherwood
• Building cost in 1850: $10,330
• Number of steps inside: 62
• 1888: Year that the lighthouse tower was raised
10 feet and a new lantern installed
• Charles Wood Vanderhoop: AWampanoag
Indian who took the keeper job in 1919
• 1933: The year the light was electrified
• 1965: Lighthouse is automated
• 390 feet: Distance to the northwest Sankaty is
being moved
• 130 feet: Incremental distant Expert House
Movers can move Sankaty before laying down
another section of steel moving beams
• Seven feet: Amount of elevation Sankaty is losing
at its new site
• Moving speed: 62 inches every 10 minutes

ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent Last week, children from Wee Whalers got a guided tour of the site by members of the 'Sconset Trust, the project's main underwriters. Holding souvenir bricks from the structure are Adan Partida, Sydney Ryder and Faedra Wheeler.

• 10 days or less: Time estimated to move Sankaty
by Expert House Movers President Jerri Matyiko
• Distance from the edge of the bluff in 1850: 250
feet
• Distance from the edge of the bluff in 1892: 175
feet
• Distance from the edge of the bluff in 1933: 160
feet
• Distance from the edge of the bluff now: 76 feet
• $4 million: Cost to move Sankaty Head
Lighthouse
• 1991: Save Our Sankaty movement born
• Light strength: Up to 40 miles
• 10 inches: Height of bricks to be added to
Sankaty to accommodate two extra steps discovered
during pre-move excavation
Lighthouse weight: 450 tons
Lighthouse nicknames: Blazing Star and Rocket
Light
- Compiled from Independent archives, the 'Sconset
Trust and the Nantucket Historical Association

THE KEEPERS OF
SANKATY LIGHTHOUSE
1849 - Joseph Allen
1849-1860: Alexander D. Bunker
1860-1861: Samuel Swain
1861-1867: Henry Winslow
1867-1873: Uriah C. Clark
1873-1882: George F. Folger
1882-1891: C.C. Hamblin
1891-1894: Ethan Allen
1894-1919: Joseph G. Remsen
1919-1920: Charles W. Vanderhoop
1920-1943: Eugene N. Larsen
1943-1944: B. Anderson
1944: Aechford V. Haskins
ASSISTANT KEEPERS
1855-1861: Henry Winslow
1861-1867: U.C. Clark
1867: George T. Coggersall
1867-1873: George F. Folger
1868-1872: Benjamin C. Sayer
1872-1873: Charles B. Swain
1873-1876: Franklin B. Murphy
1873-1874: Charles B. Swain
1876-1897: John M. Lamb
1877-1978: Simeon L. Lewis
1878-1880: William H. Gibbs
1880: Benjamin F. Myer
1880-1882: Calvin C. Hamblin
1882: Benjamin F. Brown
1909-1912: George H. Purdy
1912-1919: Charles W. Vanderhoop
1913-1914: Earl D. Hill
1914-1920: Eugene N. Larsen
1919-1920: C.A. Ellis
1920-1925: F.R. Macy
1925-1933: James E. Dolby

If you would like to watch Sankaty Head Lighthouse inch along steel I-beams toward its new foundation, the 'Sconset Trust is looking for volunteers to help with crowd control, along with imparting the mechanics of the move and the history of the 157-year-old lighthouse to onlookers. Call 'Sconset Trust Executive Director Erika Mooney at 228-9917.

If you missed the last three issues of lighthouse move coverage, check out our archives at www.nantucketindependent. com. Also check out

www.sconsettrust.org for Rob Benchley's complete photo essay on the move.