Beavertail Lighthouse

Year Built

1749; rebuilt 1753; rebuilt 1856

Cost

$14,500

Type

Square

Height

45 feet

Location

Jamestown, (Conanicut Island)

Automated Year

1972

First Lit

1749 (Former)- 1856 (Current)

Lens Type

Third-order Fresnel lens (1856) - Present optic: VRB-25 (installed June 2019)

Fog Signal

Horn one blast every 30 seconds (three second blast)

Year Deactivated

Active

Color

Natural w/black lantern

Last Keeper - Date

John E. Baxter, Jr. (1969 – 1972)

Description

The grounds are open to the public, and there is a museum in the keepers' houses.

Brief History

•  The first Beavertail Lighthouse or Newport Light as it was also known was built in 1749 at Beavertail Point on the southern tip of Conanicut Island. It was the third lighthouse built in America.
•  The lighthouse burned down on July 23, 1753. It would be several months before a new lighthouse could be built.
•  On September 23, 1815 a very powerful hurricane hit Rhode Island. It destroyed twenty panes of the glass in the lantern and destroyed the keeper's house.
•  In June 1851, during the lighthouse's annual inspection, an inspector found the lighthouse and keeper's house in bad shape and the keeper poorly trained.
•  In July 2023 U.S. Senator Jack Reed announced the ownership of Beavertail Lighthouse was being transferred from the federal government to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM).