Castle Hill Light

Castle Hill Light

2006
Location Off Ocean Ave. on Castle Hill at W end of Newport Neck, Newport, Rhode Island
Coordinates 41°27′43.8″N 71°21′46.5″W / 41.462167°N 71.362917°W / 41.462167; -71.362917Coordinates: 41°27′43.8″N 71°21′46.5″W / 41.462167°N 71.362917°W / 41.462167; -71.362917
Year first constructed 1890
Year first lit 1890
Automated 1957
Foundation Granite blocks
Construction Granite blocks
Tower shape Conical tower
Markings / pattern Granite lower, upper half white, black lantern
Height 34 feet (10 m)
Focal height 40 feet (12 m)
Original lens Fifth order Fresnel lens
Current lens 12 inches (300 mm)
Range 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi)
Characteristic Isophase Red, 6 sec
Fog signal Horn, 1 every 10 sec.
Admiralty number J0530
ARLHS number USA-144
USCG number

1-17795 [1] [2] [3]

Castle Hill Light
Architect H.H. Richardson
Architectural style Romanesque
Part of Ocean Drive Historic District (#76000048)
MPS Lighthouses of Rhode Island TR
NRHP Reference # 88000277 [4]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP March 30, 1988
Designated NHLDCP May 11, 1976

Castle Hill Lighthouse is located on Narragansett Bay in Newport, Rhode Island at the end of the historic Ocean Drive. It is an active navigation aid for vessels entering the East Passage between Conanicut Island and Aquidneck Island. The lighthouse was completed in 1890 on property formerly belonging to the naturalist, oceanographer, and zoologist Alexander Agassiz of Harvard University. Agassiz sold the land to the United States Government for the lighthouse for $1.00.

Henry Hobson Richardson drew a sketch for a lighthouse at this location which may or may not have been the basis for the actual design. The structure does not include the residence which was featured in Richardson's sketch. The keeper's house was built, and still stands, near Castle Hill Cove, a few hundred feet away.[3]

Although the lighthouse is not open to the public, the shoreline and cliff face where the lighthouse sits are accessible by several footpaths from the Castle Hill Inn and the Castle Hill Cove Marina. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 as Castle Hill Lighthouse.

List of Keepers

  1. Frank W. Parmele (1890 – 1911)
  2. George L. Hoxsie (1911 – at least 1944)
  3. Manuel Soares Macedo (at least 1945).

Gallery

See also

References

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