Rhode Island Lighthouses

Poplar Point Lighthouse

© 2004 R. Holmes

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 Poplar Point 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.

In the late 1980's Russel and Cathy Shippee purchased Poplar Point Lighthouse. The lighthouse was in need of renovation. They had two options, renovate the existing structure or preserve what could be preserved and to redo the rest. They chose the second option. They tore down the one story northwest wing and replaced it with a two story structure. They gutted the rest of the house. They replaced the plumbing and wiring, added insulation, re-plastered the walls and replaced all 54 windows in the house.

In 2024 the Shippees received permission from the U.S. Coast Guard to light the tower. They didn't think it was possible to relight the lighthouse until they met David Zapatka, a lighthouse photographer and president of the Friends of Plum Beach Lighthouse. He helped the Shippees submit a request to the Coast Guard. It was approved within a couple of weeks.

The Shippees wanted to install a fixed light for historical accuracy. The Coast Guard denied the request for a fixed light. They required a flashing light to help it stand out from houses and other sources of lights in Narragansett Bay.

After a brief ceremony Russell and Cathy Shippee relit Poplar Point Lighthouse on December 25, 2024. A cannon was fired and fireworks lit the sky as the light was turned on.