Derby Wharf

Derby Wharf lighthouse is a small harbour light in Salem Bay, marking the end of the half mile long Derby Wharf, which also acts as a breakwater for the inner harbour area. The light is a small square tower with an octagonal lantern room.

The square light tower with octagonal lantern is said to be the shortest traditional lighthouse in the United States, standing just 4 metres in height. The brick part of the structure is windowless and until 1922 was painted red, but is now painted white. There is a door on the West facing side. In 1977 the light was extinguished by the United States Coast Guard, who turned ownership of the light over to the National Park Service. The tower was restored in 1983 and was relit on 4th October, today exhibiting a red flash every six seconds. The lamp used today is powered by a solar panel on the gallery railing.

With Salem owing a lot of it's early finacial prosperity to the use of the natural bay and the Wharf, it became the first national historic site in the USA in 1938, a protected area consisting; the wharf, various houses in the immediate vicinity and the Custom House, with the lighthouse being added to this listing in 1979 once it had been decommissioned.