Historic Martha's Vineyard Lighthouse Has New Home

A historic Martha's Vineyard lighthouse has arrived at its new location after a painstaking 135-foot move from the edge of an eroding cliff.

Richard Pomroy, manager of the relocation project, says the 160-year-old Gay Head Lighthouse landed on its new location at 11:10 a.m. Saturday and lined up "beautifully dead center" on a concrete pad.

The journey on steel rails began Thursday. Pomroy says a Dixieland band played at the champagne christening for hundreds of spectators at the finish line.

The next phase starts Wednesday when construction of a new foundation will begin.

Pomroy says it's hoped the beacon on the 400-ton, 52-foot-tall brick lighthouse will be relit in July.

The lighthouse sits near brightly colored cliffs at the western edge of the resort island that was once a whaling center.