Courtesy of Coast Guard Historian's Office

Location: Providence River near Bullock Point
1872 - present Lat 41 44 12 N - Long 72 21 54 W

Established: 1872

Lighthouse Constructed: 1872

Removed: 1939

Original Illuminating Apparatus: Six-Order Fresnel Lens

Current Illuminating Apparatus: 250-mm lens

Height: Lighthouse: Light 35 feet from base (1906)
Skeleton tower: 20 feet (2005)

Status: Active aid to navigation / skeleton tower

Light Characteristic: Lighthouse: Fixed Red (1906)
Skeleton tower: Flashing Red every 6 seconds (1988)
Occulting White every 4 seconds (2005)

Range: Lighthouse: 7½ miles (1906)
Skeleton tower: 6 miles (2005)

In 1860, the Lighthouse Board built a day mark on the shoal off Bullock Point to help ships avoid it as they traveled up the Providence River. As ship traffic increased on the river, the owners and captains of ships using it petitioned to have a light placed on the day mark. In 1872, in response to the petitions, the Lighthouse Board placed a portable beacon on it.

In 1874, Congress appropriated $15,000 to build a permanent keeper's dwelling and light tower on Bullock Point. While the new light was being built, the portable beacon was removed and was replaced with a temporary light on a stake. The keeper's dwelling and light tower were completed and lighted in 1876.

On September 21, 1938, one of the most powerful hurricanes in history hit Rhode Island. During it, the light's last keeper, Andrew Zuius would live up to the best traditions of the Lighthouse Service. Hurricane driven wind and waves battered Bullock Point for hours. Suddenly a huge wave tore away part of one wall. Water poured into the lighthouse. Andrew tried to put a mattress in the hole, but it was no use. Another wave hit and took out the wall on the other side of the lighthouse. Water kept pouring into the lighthouse. Zuius had to go to the light's second floor, so he wouldn't be washed out of the light. Just minutes after he climbed the stairs to the second floor, a huge wave tore them away. Andrew kept the light burning through the night. The next morning someone came out and got him. Even thought the light was wrecked, he continued to tend it, while he lived on shore with his family. Andrew was transferred to Palmer Island Lighthouse in 1939, when Bullock Point Lighthouse was closed. He retired from the lighthouse service in 1944.

The remains of the lighthouse were removed in 1939. It was replaced with a light on a skeleton tower.