Rose Island Lighthouse

Year Built

1870

Cost

$7,500

Type

Octagonal

Height

35 feet

Location

Newport

Automated Year

Private Aid To Navigation

First Lit

1870

Lens Type

Sixth order Fresnel lens, 1870

Fog Signal

None

Year Deactivated

1971-1992

Color

White tower on dwelling

Last Keeper - Date

Russell R. Barnhart (1965 – at least 1966)

Description

The tower, 1912 brick oil house, fog signal building still standing.

Brief History

•  On February 2, 1876, the wind reached near-hurricane force and shook the tower violently. Two weeks later, another storm dragged the station’s boat and its 600-pound mooring onto the beach, damaging the boat.
•  A mechanical fog bell was established at Rose Island Lighthouse on August 10, 1885.
•  A brick oil house was added to the station in 1901, and in 1912 a brick fog signal building, home to a third-class reed horn, was built on a rock just west of and below the lighthouse.
•  In February 1917, Assistant Keeper Julius Johansen drowned just after leaving Rose Island to obtain provisions in Newport.
•  The lighthouse was opened to the public in 1992, and the following year, it once again became an active aid to navigation on August 7, 1993, showing a white light flashing every six seconds.