Duxbury Pier Light “Bug Light”

Duxbury Pier Light – also known as Bug Light – is located on the channel that leads to Plymouth, Kingston, and Duxbury (Massachusetts) harbors. “The Bug” stands 34 feet high and was first lit on September 15, 1871. It was installed to protect mariners from the dangerous shoal off Saquish Head.

In truth, the lighthouse is neither in Duxbury nor is it on a pier. In 1813, a stone pier was erected near where Bug Light is today. It was twelve feet square at the bottom, and eighteen feet high, six feet above the water at high tide. The lighthouse’s closeness to the pier and to the town of Duxbury is probably how it came to be officially named Duxbury Pier Light. The pier no longer exists, but the pile of rip-rap it stood on remains.