Sakonnet
Point Light
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© 2004 R. Holmes
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Location: On Little
Cormorant Rock at the entrance to the Sakonnet River
 1884 - present --Lat
41 27 12 N - Long 71 12 12
W
Established: 1884
Lighthouse Constructed:
1884
Deactivated: 1955 - 1997
Original Illuminating
Apparatus: Fourth Order Fresnel Lens
Current Illuminating
Apparatus: 300-mm lens
Height: 66 feet
Status: Active aid to Navigation/Owned by Friends
of Sakonnet Lighthouse
Light Characteristic:
Fixed White Alternating Group flashing (3) Red every
60 seconds (1924)  Fixed
White for 30 seconds,
2.6 seconds eclipse
4.8 seconds Red flash,
5.2 seconds eclipse
4.8 seconds Red flash,
5.2 seconds eclipse
4.8 seconds Red flash,
2.6 seconds eclipse
Flashing White every 6 seconds - Red sector from 015° to 170° (2005)
Flashing White every 6 seconds - Red sector from 195° to 350° (2006)
Range: White 12 miles - Red 10 miles (1924)
 White 7 miles -
Red 5 miles (2005)
In 1883, the Lighthouse Board picked Little Cormorant Rock,
800 yards off Sakonnet Point, as the site for the Sakonnet Point
Lighthouse and began construction on it. Work continued late
into the year, completing the lighthouse's pier, before winter
storms forced construction to stop. There were concerns, due
the site's exposed location, that additional funding would be
needed to finish the lighthouse. However, these concerns prove
to be unfounded.
In 1938, Rhode Island was ravaged by a hurricane. During it,
Sakonnet Point Lighthouse was repeatedly pounded by huge wind
driven waves. They hit with such force that they caused the
light's base to crack. It was repaired but cracked again during
Hurricane Carol, in 1954.
The Coast Guard decided not to repair the lighthouse and planned
to blow it up. The people of Little Compton asked the Coast
Guard not to destroy it. The Coast Guard offered the light to
Little Compton, if they agreed to maintain it and leave it permanently
unlighted. The town agreed and received ownership of the light.
In 1961, the lighthouse was sold to Carl Haffenreffer for $1,300.
In 1985, he donated it to the Friends of Sakonnet Point Lighthouse,
Inc. The group raised $100,000 to restore the lighthouse.
After years of work, the light was relighted on March 19, 1997.
On March 22, hundreds of people gathered at Sakonnet Point to
celebrate the relighting.
For information
on Sakonnet Point Lighthouse, contact:
The Friends of Sakonnet
Point Lighthouse, Inc.
P.O. Box 154
Little Compton, RI 02837
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