Rhode Island - Beavertail Lighthouse

This lighthouse is located in Beavertail State Park at Jamestown, RI. - The original lighthouse began here in 1749 as a wooden tower erected at the tip of Conanicut Island. Thus Newport or New Port, as it was first known, became the third oldest structure of its kind in the colonies on the Atlantic Coast. The site is located at the entrance to Narragansett Bay and its East and West Passages.

In 1779, British soldiers retreating from nearby Newport burned the tower and removed the lighting equipment, leaving the beacon darkened during the remainder of the Revolution. The structure had deteriorated so badly by 1856 that it was replaced. This new tower measured 10 feet square and 64 feet up to the beacon. A third-order Fresnel lens was placed on top and served for the next 40 years. Various fog-warning devices were tested at this  Lighthouse.

A dwelling was added in 1898 to house an Assistant Keeper who helped with the fog signal duties. Years later a fourth-order Fresnel lens replaced the original, and in 1931 the first electric light beacon was installed.

The Great Hurricane of 1938 exposed the foundation of the original Beavertail Lighthouse. The foundation was still visible at the time of my visit here in 2001. It's located 100 feet in front of the present tower.

In 1939 the U.S. Coast Guard took over responsibility for all navigational aids. Some thirty-three years later, the beacon was automated as part of a program which in 1989 ended the profession of lighthouse keeping, except for the Boston Light.

In 1983, the Rhode Island Park Association began restoration of the deteriorating Assistant Keeper's house. As a result, the building was opened in 1989 under the sponsorship of the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum Association.