Point Judith Light

Narragansett, RI
Est 1810, present tower built 1857
51 feet; light is 65 feet above sea

Point Judith extends more than a mile from the Rhode Island coast, marking the entrance to the Narragansett Bay to the north and Block Island Sound to the south. The grounds, but not the lighthouse, are available to the public.

Jeremy’s Lighthouse Guide #43

The origin of Point Judith's name is disputed. The most colorful explanation concerns a Nantucket sea captain, lost in the fog off the point. The captain's daughter shouted that she spotted land. The captain, unable to discern anything in the fog, exhorted his daughter to "P'int, Judy, p'int!"

Point Judith Light / D'entremont The first lighthouse here was built in 1810 for $5,000. This octagonal wooden tower, the third lighthouse in Rhode Island, was destroyed in the so-called Great Gale of September 23, 1815. A 35-foot stone lighthouse was erected the following year. The station was cold and damp. The keeper and his family are said to have slept in the kitchen to keep warm in the winter.

In 1857 a new 51-foot brownstone tower and brick dwelling were built. The lighthouse, which still stands, is an octagonal structure. It was fitted with a fourth-order Fresnel lens from Paris, which remains in place today. The upper half of the tower was later painted brown and the lower half white.

In the summer of 2000 this lighthouse underwent a major restoration, carried out by Campbell Construction of Beverly, Massachusetts. The lens was removed to the Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team’s facilities in Bristol, Rhode Island, and the lantern went to Campbell Construction for refurbishing.

New galvanized steel windows with six panes of safety glass were installed, similar to the tower's original wrought iron windows. Some of the original brownstone, which weathers badly, had to be replaced. Brownstone is hard to come by these days, but a quarry was found in Cheshire, Connecticut. The new stones were dyed to match the old ones. Cracks were patched on the interior and exterior of the tower.

The tower isn’t open to the public, but the grounds around the lighthouse, part of Coast Guard Station Point Judith, are open daily.

For much more HISTORY on this lighthouse visit lighthouse.cc

Point Judith, Narragansett, RI

Point Judith econstruction in 200/ D'Entremont Photo

Inside Point Judith Light / D'Entremont

View from Point Judith Light / D'entremont

Narragansett, RI lighthouse / Jeremy D'entremont Photo

Copyright 2005 by Jeremy D'Entremont,New England Lighthouses
Photos are the property of the author and may not be used without permission.
Photos above from Jeremy D'Entremont.

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