Conanicut
Light
 |
Courtesy of National Archives | Location:
North End
of Conanicut Island
 1886 - present Lat 41 34
25 N - Long 71 22 18 W
Established:
1886
Lighthouse Constructed: 1886
Discontinued: 1930
Original Illuminating Apparatus:
Fifth-Order Fresnel Lens
Current Illuminating Apparatus:
None
Height: Lighthouse:
47 feet
 Skeleton tower: 50 feet
Status: Private Residence
Light Characteristic: Lighthouse: Fixed Red (1906)
 Skeleton tower: Fixed
Red (1950)
None (2005)
Range: Lighthouse:
8½ miles (1906)
 Skeleton tower: 13 miles (1950)
None (2005)
The Wickford Rail and Steamboat Company ran a ferry between Wickford and Newport
in the late 1800's. In 1882 it petitioned the Lighthouse Board to build a lighthouse
on the northern tip of Conanicut Island. On July 7, 1884 Congress appropriated
$18,000 to build the lighthouse. The Board chose a site, but construction was
delayed because one of its owners was in Europe.
The Conanicut Lighthouse,
a square wooden tower attached to a keeper's dwelling, was completed in 1886.
It was first lighted on April 1.
Conanicut Lighthouse was discontinued in 1933. Its lantern and Fresnel lens
were removed. A forty foot skeleton
tower replaced
the light. It was equipped with a 375-mm lens lantern as the primary
light and a 300-mm lens lantern as the backup
light. It remained in service until the 1980's.
The lighthouse
was sold at auction in 1934 for $2,874. It has changed little since then.
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