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Dutch Island Lighthouse
Facts...
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Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont
Dutch
Island Lighthouse
Rhode
Island
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Year Built:
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1857
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Height of Tower:
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42 feet
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Description:
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White square
tower. The lighthouse is no |
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longer an
active aid to navigation. When the light was active, it showed an
occulting red light every 10 seconds from a focal plane of 56 feet
that was visible 9 nautical miles. The light station was also equipped
with a fog bell that sounded one stroke every 15 seconds. – Reference:
1939 U.S. Lighthouse Service Light List |
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Location:
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On south point
of island. – Reference: |
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1939 U.S.
Lighthouse Service Light List |
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Coordinates:
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Automated:
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1947 |
Status:
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Decommissioned…The
Dutch Island Light Society – a chapter of the American Lighthouse
Foundation, was founded in 2000 for the purpose of restoring and
preserving Dutch Island Light.
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Light Station
Historical Notes:
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The
first lighthouse at
Dutch
Island was established on January 1, 1827 to mark the west passage of the
Narragansett Bay
and to aid vessels entering
Dutch
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Island
Harbor. The tower’s construction was of a modest nature as it was built to a
height of 30 feet utilizing available stones found on the island. According
to lighthouse historian Jeremy D’Entremont, “The four-room keeper's dwelling
and the lighthouse were described around the mid-nineteenth century as the
"worst constructed of any in the state," and the lantern was described as
"wretched." The poorly constructed light station eventually caused the U.S.
Lighthouse Service to have to rebuild the tower and dwelling in 1857. When
completed, the 42-foot brick tower showed a fixed white light from a fourth
order Fresnel lens and was attached to new keeper’s dwelling. The
characteristics of the light were changed to occulting |
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red in 1924.
The lighthouse was automated in 1947. The combination of the light’s
lack of necessity to the maritime community and uncontrolled vandalism
caused the U.S. Coast Guard to decommission the lighthouse in 1979.
Sadly, only the lighthouse and a concrete engine house without a roof
exist today.
(Information courtesy of
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U.S. Coast Guard Photo
Dutch Island Lighthouse
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ALF Historian Jeremy D’Entremont)
To learn more about Dutch Island
Lighthouse and how you can help the Dutch Island Lighthouse Society, a
chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation save this
historic beacon
click
here!
Dutch Island Lighthouse
History...
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Dutch Island Lighthouse
Historical Features...
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