Rhode Island - Newport Harbor (Goat Island) Lighthouse

This lighthouse is located on the north end of Goat Island at Newport Harbor, RI and Narragansett Bay. The original lighthouse was built in 1824 and then rebuilt in 1865. At the time of my visit there in 2001, this was an active lighthouse.

Rhode Island - Castle Hill Lighthouse

This lighthouse is located on the west side of Castle Hill, RI. and east side of eastern passage into Narragansett Bay. It was built in 1890, and was an active lighthouse at the time of my visit there in 2001.

Rhode Island - Dutch Island Lighthouse

The Dutch Island Lighthouse overlooks the west passage of Narragansett Bay on the southern tip of Dutch Island, RI. - The first lighthouse was built in 1825. This one was built in 1857 of brick and is 42 feet high. The focal plane of the light was 56 feet above water. In 1947 the light was automated. A keeper's house was originally built with the lighthouse, but that structure was razed in the 1950's. Use of the lighthouse was discontinued in 1979.

Although the Dutch Island Lighthouse was in advanced disrepair, there was one bright spot. The lighthouse still had its original lantern atop the tower. Prior to my visit here in 2001, The American Lighthouse Foundation had obtained a lease on the lighthouse from the U.S. Coast Guard. At least $500,000 was needed to get the restoration project underway. This light was inactive at the time of my visit.

Rhode Island - Hog Island Shoal Lighthouse

The Hog Island Shoal Lighthouse is located in Narragansett Bay, west of the entrance to Mount Hope Bay, near Portsmouth, RI. - This spark-plug style lighthouse was built in 1901 to replace an 1886 wooden lightship. The lighthouse is constructed of cast-iron and stands 60 feet high above the water line. The first lens was a fifth-order Fresnel lens. Above the basement, the first three levels contain the living quarters and work space for the lighthouse keepers. In 1964 the light was automated.

The lighthouse was declared excess by GSA in 2006 and sold as surplus to a private individual. At the time of my visit to this lighthouse in 2001 the light was inactive.

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.

Massachusetts - Annisquam Harbor Lighthouse

The Annisquam Harbor Lighthouse is located at Wigwam Point, Annisquam Harbor, MA. - This white cylindrical tower is the third lighthouse to stand on this spot. The first light was known as Squam Harbor Light. It rose from atop a 30-foot wooden frame building propped up by long spars to keep it from being blown over. It was connected by a walkway to a wooden keeper's dwelling, which still stood at the time of my visit.

Typical of most early light stations, Squam Harbor Light suffered greatly from dampness, and was replaced in 1851 by a 40-foot wooden tower which survived until 1897. The present 41-foot white brick edifice, with walls four feet thick, displays a flashing white light with a red sector to the south-southwest. This station was automated in 1974.

At the time of my visit in Jul 2001, the keepers dwelling was home to a local Coast Guard family.

Massachusetts - Newburyport Upper and Inner Lighthouses

The Newburyport Upper Harbor Range Light is located at Newburyport, MA. - This range light was established along the Newburyport waterfront in 1873 to guide mariners along the Merrimac River into Newburyport Harbor. The harbor is more than two miles from the open ocean. This waterfront Outer Beacon was located on the east corner of Bailey New Wharf. It was situated in a brown conical, cast-iron tower and showed a fixed red light 25 feet above the water.

The Inner Beacon, shown below, is located 350 feet to the west and was built in 1873 . It consists of a 38-foot pyramidal, red brick tower with a hexagonal lantern that displayed a fixed green light approximately 22 feet higher than its counterpart. Both lights were discontinued in 1961, and the front range light, shown above, was moved from its location on the wharf to the nearby Coast Guard Station. The rear light was sold and converted to a private residence. At the time of my visit in 200l, the owners rented the lighthouse for catered romantic dinners.