Poplar
Point Light
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© 2004 R. Holmes |
Location:
Entrance to
Wickford Harbor
 1831 - present  Lat 41 34
16 N - Long 71 26 21 W
Established:
1831
Lighthouse Constructed: 1831
Discontinued: 1882
Original Illuminating Apparatus:
Eight Argand Lamps with reflectors
Current Illuminating Apparatus:
None
Height: 37 feet
Status: Private Residence
Light Characteristic: Fixed White (1855)
 None (2005)
Range: None (2005)
On March 3, 1831, Congress appropriated $3,000 for a beacon at or near the entrance
to Wickford Harbor. A site on Poplar Point, at the Southern entrance to the harbor
was chosen and purchased from Thomas Albro for $300.
Charles Allen of
Kingston, Rhode Island built the lighthouse, a stone keeper's dwelling with an
octagonal wooden light tower attached to the roof, in 1831. Samuel Thomas, Jr
was appointed Poplar Point's first keeper in November of that year. He was paid
$300 a year.
Poplar Point Lighthouse 's illuminating apparatus consisted
of eight Argand lamps with concave reflectors arranged around two hoops. The Argand
lamp looks like a kerosene lamp. The reflector was 14 inches in diameter and weighed
three pounds. In 1855, they were replaced by a sixth order steamer lens and an Argand lamp.
The lighthouse was
discontinued in 1882. It was replaced by the Wickford Harbor Lighthouse.
On October 15, 1894, Poplar Point Lighthouse was sold, at public auction,
to Albert R. Sherman for $3,944.67. In later years, it was added to, by subsequent
owners, altering its original appearance.
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