A 300-year-old beacon: U.S.'s oldest lighthouse honored

BOSTON America’s oldest lighthouse station is being honored as it turns 300 years old.

U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Paul Zukunft called Boston Light a “landmark that will stand the test of time” at a waterfront Boston celebration Wednesday.

Democratic Mayor Martin Walsh says the beacon will “always remain a national treasure.”

Festivities included a large birthday cake replica of the lighthouse and performances by the Coast Guard band, honor guard and drill team.

Dignitaries then travelled 9 miles by boat to the light’s home on Little Brewster Island.

At sunset, Boston Light will be briefly powered down and symbolically relit.

The 89-foot-tall lighthouse was built by the British in 1716, was destroyed during the American Revolution and was rebuilt by the U.S. in 1783.

It’s the Coast Guard’s last manned lighthouse.