Wickford Harbor Lighthouse

Year Built

1882

Cost

$3,000

Type

Original: square tower and attached dwelling - Current: skeleton tower

Height

42 feet

Location

Wickford

Automated Year

N/A

First Lit

1930 (current skeleton tower)

Lens Type

Fifth order Fresnel lens (original), aerobeacon (current)

Fog Signal

Bell, every 20s - Current: none

Year Deactivated

1930

Color

Original: white on red iron pier, lantern, black - Current: SG daymark on black tower

Last Keeper - Date

Edward Andrews (1893 – 1930)

Description

Removed and Replace With a Skeleton Tower in 1930. Today Wickford Harbor Light 1 stands a pile of stones.

Brief History

•  The Lighthouse Board built the Wickford Harbor Lighthouse in 1882 to replace the aging Poplar Point Lighthouse.
•  1883, The temporary western-river lantern was changed on November 1, 1882, to a fifth-order fixed white light, exhibited from the newly-erected tower.
•  In 1907 the Lighthouse Board received a complaint from a citizen of Wickford about Edward Andrews, the keeper of Wickford Harbor light. The complaint stated that he let people other than Lighthouse Establishment employees stay at the lighthouse.
•  In 1930 the lighthouse was discontinued and was replaced with a skeleton tower.
•  In 1972 Anita W, Hinckley, a Wickford resident, wrote the book Wickford Memories. It was filled with stories about Wickford. One story, The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter, took place at the light. It's a sad little love story.