Rhode Island Lighthouses

Warwick Lighthouse

The first Warwick Lighthouse, a wooden tower on the stone keeper's dwelling, was built in 1826, on the southern tip of Warwick Neck. In 1833, at the keeper's request, a wooden three-room addition was attached to the back of the keeper's dwelling. Within a few years serious leaks developed at junctions between the lighthouse and the addition. The leaks were repaired in 1838. A new two-story keeper's dwelling was built in 1889. The wooden addition was removed in 1892 and was converted into a barn.

It is uncertain what kind of illuminating apparatus was placed in the light. A report in 1838 stated that it had eight lamps with reflectors arranged around a circular table. In 1856, a fifth order Fresnel lens, made by Henry Lepait of Pairs, replaced the lamps and reflectors.

In the late 1920's the Lighthouse Bureau feared the eroding cliffs near the Warwick Lighthouse would cause it to collapse. In 1932, a new iron light was built thirty feet from the old light. The lens from the old light was moved to the new light. The old light was torn down shortly after the new light was lit.



On the morning of September 21, 1938, Warwick Lighthouse was fifty feet from the water. Within a matter of hours the 1938 Hurricane destroyed all that land, leaving the light just inches from Narragansett Bay. The lighthouse was powered by the local electric company. After the hurricane, the electricity to the lighthouse was out for twelve days. The keeper, Edward Murphy, had to use a portable generator to light the lighthouse.



In September 1939, Warwick Lighthouse moved to its present location. The lighthouse was lifted off its old foundation with jacks and logs and was placed on a planked runway. It was rolled to its new concrete foundation. It had to be placed on an eight-foot concrete foundation because the roof of the keeper's dwelling blocked some ships from seeing it.

The light was automated in 1986, when the fourth order Fresnel lens was replaced with a 250mm lens. The keeper's dwelling was used by the Coast Guard as living quarters for it personnel until the U.S. General Servioces Administration decided to dispose of it.

On May 26, 2023 the General Services Administration offered ten lighthouses to the public. Warwick Lighthouse was one of the lighthouses offered under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. The act allows the lighthouses to be transferred at no cost to federal agencies, state and local governments, nonprofits, educational agencies, and community development organizations.

This is not a giveaway to the first organization that applies for it. They must be financially able to maintain the lighthouse, and make the lighthouse available for education, park, recreation, cultural or historic preservation purposes for the public. The information about how to apply for the lighthouse is in a Notice of Availability. It also lists the description of the property and the condition of the property .

I don't believe any nonprofit organizations will be able to acquire the lighthouse because it has been a government owned lighthouse. The other Rhode Island Lighthouses, Beavertail Lighthouse and Prudence Island Lighthouse, that the GSA decided to dispose of recently, had long standing organizations helping to maintain them. I don't believe any group or organization can be formed and get sufficient financial backing within the 60 days required by the GSA.

I also don't believe that the State of Rhode Island or the city of Warwick will aquire it either. Warwick aleady owns Conimicut Lighthouse and have trouble maintaing it.