Pomham Rocks Lighthouse

Year Built

1871

Cost

$5,000

Type

Octagonal on square

Height

39 feet

Location

Riverside Rd., East Providence

Automated Year

1974

First Lit

1871

Lens Type

Sixth-order Fresnel lens Present optic: VLB-44 (LED)

Fog Signal

None

Year Deactivated

1974-2006

Color

White with black lantern and red roof on house

Last Keeper - Date

Dennis Tardiff (1973 – 1974)

Description

The wooden tower and oil house are all that remain, not open to the public.

Brief History

•  Pomham Rocks lighthouse was built in 1871 on a large rock on the East Side of the Providence River.
•  On March 16, 1901 seventy-five percent of all the captains and pilots in Narragansett Bay signed three petitions for removal of the siren and replacing it with a mechanical bell.
•  Adolf H. Aronson was appointed keeper in 1908 and remained at the lighthouse until 1937.
•  In 1980, after the government sold Pomham Rocks Lighthouse to ExxonMobil, the electricity was cut off.
•  In the fall of 2016, work began on returning commercial power to the lighthouse.