Watch Hill Light

Watch Hill Light

Location	Watch Hill, Rhode Island
Coordinates	41°18′14″N 71°51′30.3″W / 41.30389°N 71.858417°W / 41.30389; -71.858417Coordinates: 41°18′14″N 71°51′30.3″W / 41.30389°N 71.858417°W / 41.30389; -71.858417
Year first constructed	1808
Year first lit	1857 (current tower)
Automated	1986
Foundation	Granite block
Construction	Granite with brick interior
Tower shape	Square
Markings / pattern	Natural w/ white lantern, red roof
Height	61 feet (19 m)
Focal height	61 feet (19 m)
Original lens	4th order Fresnel lens
Current lens	VRB-25
Range	14nm
Characteristic	Alternating R&W, 5s
Fog signal	Horn: 1 every 30s
USCG number	1-19795 [1] [2] [3]

The Watch Hill Lighthouse in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, has served as a nautical beacon for ships since 1745, when the Rhode Island colonial government erected a watchtower and beacon during the French and Indian War and Revolutionary War. Destroyed in a 1781 storm, plans were discussed to build a new lighthouse to mark the eastern entrance to Fishers Island Sound and to warn mariners of a dangerous reef southwest of Watch Hill. President Thomas Jefferson signed an act to build the lighthouse in 1806 and construction was completed in 1807. The first lighthouse stood 35 feet (11 m) tall.

In 1827 a rotating light was installed to differentiate the light from that of the Stonington Harbor Light in Connecticut. Erosion forced the lighthouse to close in 1855 and move further away from the bluff edge.

The next lighthouse, opened in 1856, stands 45 feet (14 m) tall. Sixteen years later the steamer Metis crashed off Watch Hill in 1872 killing 130 people. A United States Life-Saving Service station was built next to the lighthouse where it operated until the 1940s and was destroyed in 1963. In 1873 Captain Jared Starr Crandall, keeper of the lighthouse, was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for rescue operations involving the Metis. In 1879, Capt. Crandall's widow, Sally Ann (Gavitt) Crandall, became the first woman lighthouse keeper there.

In 1907, the steamer Larchmont collided with a schooner killing 200 people four miles from the lighthouse. The Hurricane of 1938 caused severe damage to the lighthouse. The Leif Viking ran aground a few hundred feet from the lighthouse in 1962, and although there were no injuries, the ship was stranded for nine days. The lighthouse was automated in 1986 and leased to the Watch Hill Lightkeepers Association.

References

See also

• List of Congressional Gold Medal recipients

v t e Lighthouses of Rhode Island 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 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