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Managing Organization:
Beavertail Lighthouse Museum Association
Website: http://BeavertailLight.org
Contact Address Information:
P.O. Box 83
Jamestown
Rhode Island, 02835, United States
Notes:
Beavertail's early fog cannon rivals Boston Light's cannon as America's first fog signal. The lighthouse in within Beavertail State Park. The assistant keeper's house was leased to the Rhode Island Parks Association in the late 1980s and is now a museum.
Tower Height: 45
Height of Focal Plane: 68
Characteristic and Range: Flashing white every six seconds.
Description of Tower: Square granite tower with black cast iron lantern.
This light is operational
Other Buildings?
1856 two story brick/stucco keeper's house, 1898 assistant keeper's house, oil house, garage, storage building.
Earlier Towers?
1749: 58-foot wooden tower; 1753: Second tower.
Date Established: 1749
Date Present Tower Built: 1856
Date Automated: 1972
Optics: 1856: Third order Fresnel lens, later fourth order Fresnel lens; 1991: DCB-24. The fourth order Fresnel lens is on display in the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum.
Fog Signal: 1719: Fog cannon; 1829: Fog bell and tower; 1851: Air-driven signal powered by horse; 1857: Steam whistle; 1868: Signal driven by hot-air engine; 1900: Compressed air siren; later diaphragm horns; today automated horn with one blast every 30 seconds.
Current Use: Active aid to navigation, museum.
Open To Public? Grounds and museum only.
Museum?
The assistant keeper's house has been converted into the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum. A Fresnel lens from the lighthouse is on display along with other exhibits on Beavertail Light and other Rhode Island lighthouses. There is also a small gift shop. Admission is free but donations are welcomed. The Beavertail Lighthouse Museum is open weekends and Memorial Day, beginning May 24 through mid-June, noon to 3 p.m. It is open daily June 21 through Labor Day, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. From Labor Day through Columbus Day, it is open weekends, noon to 3 p.m.
Directions:
Eastbound on RI 138: Cross over the Jamestown Bridge and continue to an exit just west of the Newport Bridge, marked with a "Jamestown" sign. If westbound, cross over the Newport Bridge to the Jamestown exit. Then follow Wolcott Avenue south; turn right at Hamilton Avenue, then left at Southwest Avenue. Follow onto connecting Beavertail Road and follow to Beavertail State Park, where there is free parking. A view is also possible from the lighthouse cruises offered periodically by Bay Queen Cruises in Warren, Rhode Island. The cruise provides good views of a number of Narragansett Bay and Mount Hope Bay lighthouses. Call Bay Queen cruises at (401) 245-1350 or visit www.bayqueen.com for details. You can also see the lighthouse from trips offered aboard the sailing vessel Mai Ling; call 401-965-5154 or email jinnyclarke@juno.com for details, or visit the Mai Ling website at www.mai-ling.com
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Keepers: Abel Franklin (1749-?); Philip Caswell (c. early 1800s); Robert H. Wheeden [Wheaton ?] (1844-1848); Damaris Wheeden [Wheaton ?] (1848-1857); W. W. Wales (1873-1895); John Wales (assistant 1885-1888); George B. Wales (assistant 1888-1895, head keeper 1895-?); Edward A. Donahue (assistant c.1915-1947, keeper 1947-1953), George T. Manders (c. 1923-1947); Carl Chellis (c. 1938); Domenic Turillo (Coast Guard, 1954-1972).
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