Narragansett Bay, RI
Established 1852. (also "Sandy Point")
25 feet tall; light is 28 feet above water
Prudence Island can be visited by taking a ferry from Bristol, but the island
is hardly a tourist destination; there are no hotels or restaurants. The lighthouse
is a pleasant walk of a bit over a mile from the ferry.
Jeremy’s Lighthouse Guide #26
The tricky passage in the Narragansett Bay past hidden ledges between six-mile-long
Prudence Island and the mainland led to the establishment of a granite lighthouse
tower on the island’s east coast in 1852. Instead of building a new tower, the
government moved a 25-foot octagonal granite tower from Goat Island in Newport.
The lighthouse had been built in 1823, making this the state’s oldest operating
lighthouse.
The worst hurricane in the recorded history of New England hit the coast on September
21, 1938. Keeper George T. Gustavus was at the station with his wife, their youngest
son Edward, a former keeper named Martin Thompson, and a visiting couple. "We
all rushed upstairs," he later reported, "[and] when the house broke up we were
all thrown into the rushing waters - I found myself inside a cottage on the Island
about 1/2 mile from where the station dwelling had been. A lad living on the Island
followed me down the shore. When he saw me near the cliffs, he stuck a timber
down into the water and I clamped the death grip on it. Then he and others hauled
me out."
Keeper Gustavus was the only one of the five people in the house to survive the
storm. A Coast Guard cutter arrived and an officer called to someone on shore, "Where are the dead?" The
reply came, "All washed to sea."
The light remained active after the hurricane. A succession of island residents
looked after the light until its automation in 1972. The lighthouse is now licensed
by the Coast Guard to a group based on the island, the Prudence Conservancy. Volunteers
have shored up the foundation and repainted the tower.
For much more HISTORY of this light click here
Copyright 2004 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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