Block Island North Lighthouse

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Block Island North Lighthouse

(Block Island, Rhode Island)

Block Island North Lighthouse is one of two current lighthouses on Block Island, the other being Block Island Southeast Lighthouse. The first lighthouse was built in 1829. It was placed there to mark the entrance to the Block Island Sound and to warn ships away from the dangerous Sandy Point that extends out from the island.

The first lighthouse, called Sandy Point Light, was actually two lights. They were placed on the opposite ends of a single building. Each tower contained 7 oil lamps with 15-inch reflectors. This was replaced by a new light in 1837. The new light, also a twin light, was built further inland to protect it from the encroaching sea due to shifting sands. In 1842 the optics were upgraded to 18 oil lamps with 15-inch reflectors. The 1837 lighthouse was replaced by a single tower lighthouse in 1857 but this newer light was soon overcome by the shifting sands and had to be replaced.

The fourth lighthouse was built in 1867. It was renamed the Block Island North Lighthouse and is the one standing today. It is a 2.5 story Victorian/Italianate granite structure that resembles and old schoolhouse. It is similar in design to other area lighthouses such as Morgan Point Lighthouse and Sheffield Island Lighthouse in Connecticut and Plum Island Lighthouse in New York.

The 55 foot lighthouse tower was equipped with a fourth-order Fresnel lens with a single wick oil lamp that emitted a fixed white light. In 1907 the lamp was changed to an incandescent oil vapor lamp that greatly improved the light output. The light was changed at a later date to a flashing white light and was electrified in the 1940s. The light was automated in 1956.

The lighthouse was deactivated in 1973 and from 1973 to 1989 was replaced by an offshore skeleton tower. At the same time in 1973, the lighthouse along with 28 surrounding acres were acquired by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and made into a wildlife refuge. In 1984 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sold the lighthouse and two acres of land to the Town of New Shoreham.

The town received a federal grant in the amount of $400,000.00 to restore the lighthouse and they were also successful in convincing the U.S. Coast Guard to move the light from the off-shore skeleton tower back to the granite lighthouse. The light was relit on August 5, 1989. The first floor was then opened as a museum. The lighthouse currently contains a DCB-24 Aerobeacon lamp and the original fourth-order Fresnel lens is on display within the lighthouse museum.

Directions: Block Island is only assessable by boat or plane. A ferry leaves out of Galilee, Rhode Island (just next to Point Judith). Once off the ferry follow Spring Street north for .2 miles and turn right on to Corn Neck Road and follow till the very end. Corn Neck Road ends a parking lot. The lighthouse, which is about a mile from the packing lot, can be seen in the distance. From the parking lot you will have to walk to the lighthouse on the sandy beach and trails.

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