Castle Hill Light
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. His mansion on the property, commissioned in 1874, is now an inn.
Location | Off Ocean Ave. on Castle Hill at W end of Newport Neck, Newport, Rhode Island |
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Coordinates | 41°27′43.8″N 71°21′46.5″W |
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 |
Tower 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] |
Heritage | place listed on the National Register of Historic Places |
Castle Hill Light | |
U.S. National Historic Landmark District Contributing Property | |
Architect | H.H. Richardson |
Architectural style | Romanesque |
Part of | Ocean Drive Historic District (ID76000048) |
MPS | Lighthouses of Rhode Island TR |
NRHP reference No. | 88000277 [4] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | March 30, 1988 |
Designated NHLDCP | May 11, 1976 |
History
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
- Frank W. Parmele (1890 – 1911)
- George L. Hoxsie (1911 – at least 1944)
- Manuel Soares Macedo (at least 1945).
References
- "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Rhode Island". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
- Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2013. p. 165.
- Rowlett, Russ (2013-03-20). "Lighthouses of Rhode Island". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.