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Prudence Island Light
Tower


Location	Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Coordinates	41°36′21.1″N 71°18′12.7″W / 41.605861°N 71.303528°W / 41.605861; -71.303528
Constructed	1852
Foundation	Natural / emplaced
Construction	Granite blocks
Height	8.5 m (28 ft)
Shape	Octagonal tower
Markings	White
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Fog signal	None

Light
First lit	1823 on Goat Island moved here in 1851
Focal height	28 feet (8.5 m)
Lens	5th order Fresnel lens (1852), 9.8 inches (250 mm) (current)
Range	6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 mi)
Characteristic	Flashing green, 6 seconds



Prudence Island Lighthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places


Architect	H. Vaugh, I.N. Stanley & Brother
MPS	Lighthouses of Rhode Island TR
NRHP reference No.	88000270
Added to NRHP	March 30, 1988

The Prudence Island Lighthouse, more commonly known locally as the Sandy Point Lighthouse, is located on Prudence Island, Rhode Island and is the oldest lighthouse tower in the state. Sandy Point is nicknamed Chibacoweda, meaning "little place separated by a passage", because the location is a little more than one mile offshore.

History

The lighthouse was constructed in 1823 and originally sat on a dike off Goat Island farther south in the Bay, where the Newport Harbor Light stands today. In 1851, it was transported to Prudence Island where it remains. It is one of the few lighthouses in the United States to retain its original bird-cage lantern. The light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

1938 New England hurricane

The lighthouse keeper's house was swept away in the 1938 New England hurricane, and five people were washed out to sea and drowned:

the keeper's wife, Mrs. George T. Gustavus (née Mable Gertrude Norwood; 1888–1938),
the keeper's son, Edward J. Gustavus (1926–1938),
the former keeper, Martin Thompson (1868–1938),
James George Lynch (1863–1938) and v, his wife, Ellen Lynch (née Ellen Wyatt; 1870–1938) – both of whom had sought refuge at the lighthouse residence.

The lighthouse keeper, George Theodore Gustavus (1884–1976), was also swept into the sea, but was swept back ashore and survived.

References

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2012. p. 170.
^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Rhode Island". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
Rowlett, Russ (2012-10-31). "Lighthouses of Rhode Island". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Hartford Courant, The (September 24, 1938). "Reports from Hurricane Stricken Territory Summarized by Regions: Rhode Island". Vol. 102. Hartford, Connecticut. pp. 1 (columns 4–5) & 8 (columns 4–5). Retrieved February 22, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Re: 1938 New England hurricane.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
D'Entremont, Jeremy (born 1956) (June 2003). "Keeper George T. Gustavus, Survivor of Terror and Tragedy". Lighthouse Digest (magazine). East Machias, Maine. ISSN 1066-0038. OCLC 26863953. Retrieved February 22, 2021 (D'Entremont is president of and historian for the American Lighthouse Foundation, founder of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, and the historian for the United States Lighthouse Society){{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: postscript (link)

External links

v t e Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Islands	Hog Island Hope Island Patience Island Prudence Island
Schools	Portsmouth School Dep't Portsmouth HS Portsmouth Abbey School
Landmarks	Battle of Rhode Island Site Greenvale Farm (1864) Green Animals Topiary Garden (1859) Hog Island Shoal Lighthouse (1901) Lawton-Almy-Hall Farm Mount Hope Bridge (1929) Oak Glen Portsmouth Friends Meetinghouse Parsonage and Cemetery (1699) Prudence Island Lighthouse (1823) Union Church (1720) Wreck Sites of H.M.S. Cerberus and H.M.S. Lark (1778)
This list is incomplete.

v t e Lighthouses of Rhode Island
Main: List of lighthouses in the United States
Beavertail Block Island North Block Island Southeast Brenton Reef Bristol Ferry Bullock's Point Castle Hill Conanicut Island Conimicut Dutch Island Gould Island Gull Rocks Hog Island Shoal Ida Lewis Rock Musselbed Shoals Nayatt Point Newport Harbor Plum Beach Point Judith Pomham Rocks Poplar Point Prudence Island Rose Island Sabin Point Sakonnet Warwick Watch Hill Whale Rock Wickford Harbor

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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This article about a Registered Historic Place in Newport County, Rhode Island is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

Categories:

History

1938 New England hurricane

See also

References

External links