Warwick
Light
 | ©
2004 R. Holmes |
Location: Warwick Neck
1826 - 1939 Lat 41 40
01 N - Long 71 22 45 W 1939 - present Lat 41 40
00 N - Long 71 22 42 W Established: 1826
Original Lighthouse Constructed:
1826
Current
Lighthouse Constructed: 1932
Automated: 1985
Original Illuminating Apparatus:
Eight Lamps with reflectors
Current Illuminating Apparatus:
250-mm lens
Height: 51 feet
Status: Active Aid to Navigation
Light Characteristic: Fixed White (1906) Occulting Green every 4 seconds (2005)
.
Range: 12½ miles (1906) 12 miles (2005)
The first Warwick Light, 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 Light 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 morning of September 21, 1938 Warwick Light 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. In 1939, the light
was moved to it present location. It had to be placed on an eight-foot concrete
base 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
is still used by the Coast Guard as living quarters for it personnel.
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