History of the Beavertail Lighthouse and Museum

Beavertail Lighthouse, Conanicut Island, Jamestown RI

• 1657

  • Conanicut Island was purchased from the Narragansett Indians by a group of settlers from Newport.

• 1712

  • The first official request for a permanent navigational aid (a lighthouse) was recorded in the documents of the Newport Town Meeting.

• 1731

  • To raise funds for lighthouse construction, the first tariff was placed on imported and exported cargo passing through Newport (10 shillings per ton foreign; 18 shillings per ton local).

• 1749

  • In February, the following appeared in the Newport Town Record:

    "A committee was appointed to build a Lighthouse at Beavertail on the Island of Jamestown, alias Conanicut, as there appears a great necessity for a lighthouse as several misfortunes have happened lately for want of a light."

    Construction of the first lighthouse, the third in the colonies, began in May and ended in September. Peter Harrison was the architect. The lighthouse was constructed of wood. The tower was 58 feet high to cornice with an 11-foot lantern on top. Abel Franklin was appointed the first keeper.

• 1753

  • The wooden lighthouse was rebuilt after a fire destroyed the original. Stones from Goat Island were used as building materials. The foundation is visible today 100 feet in front of the present light tower. Abel Franklin manned his post during construction, warning ships with a hand held lantern.

• 1779

  • British soldiers retreating from Newport burned the tower and removed the lighting equipment, leaving the beacon darkened for the rest of the Revolution.

• 1783

  • Repair of the lighthouse was completed. United States Congress established its authority over the nation's twelve lighthouses. Not until 1793 did the Rhode Island General Assembly agree to transfer Beavertail Light to the Federal Government.

• 1817

  • The beacon was lit with manufactured gas for one year in an experiment conducted by Newport inventor David Melville. Despite the cleaner, brighter flame produced by gas, the backers of whale oil persuaded the Federal Government to end its support for this competing form of fuel.

• 1852

  • United States Lighthouse Board was established, and the agency quickly set about creating a modern lighthouse system.

• 1856

  • A new lighthouse was constructed to replace the deteriorating 1753 structure. The new one measured 10 feet square, and 64 feet to the beacon. The new optic was a third-order Fresnel lens imported from France, a sparkling beehive of glass similar to that now housed in the Museum. The old tower was removed and on its foundation was built a fog-whistle house.

• 1857

  • The first in a series of experiments involving fog-warning devices took place at Beavertail. A Daboll "Fog Trumpet" -- driven by compressed air -- was tested. This was followed by the installation of the first steam powered foghorn in 1857. Several other "firsts" in foghorn equipment were tested at Beavertail over the next 40 years.

• 1898

  • A dwelling was added to house an assistant keeper, who helped with fog signal duties. This house now serves as the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum.

• 1931

  • The first electric light beacon was installed during the tenure of Captain George T. Manders, who served as keeper for 24 years.

• 1938

  • The Great Hurricane of 1938 exposed the foundation of the original lighthouse, 100 feet in front of the present light. Hidden by the fog whistle building, it had long been forgotten.

• 1939

  • The Bureau of Lighthouses -- which in 1910 had replaced the Lighthouse Board -- relinquished its responsibilities for navigational aids to the United States Coast Guard, which continues these duties today.

• 1972

  • The beacon was automated, part of a program which in 1989 ended the profession of lighthouse keeping in the United States (except for the Boston Light). Dominic Turillo was the last keeper to serve at Beavertail.

• 1983

  • The Rhode Island Parks Association began restoring the deteriorating Assistant Keeper's House as a lighthouse museum.

• 1989

  • The Beavertail Lighthouse Museum was opened, the result of a joint effort by the Rhode Island Parks Association, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, the Town of Jamestown, and the United States Coast Guard .

• 1991

  • The fourth-order Fresnel lens was removed and replaced by a rotating beacon. This lens is now displayed in the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum.