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Warwick Neck, a peninsula between
Narragansett Bay and Greenwich Bay, is one of the most picturesque
corners of the Ocean State. Panoramic vistas and salty sea breezes
attracted scores of wealthy families to these shores. In fact,
it's said that before the Great Depression and the hurricane
of 1938 changed the local landscape-literally and figuratively-Warwick
had more resident millionaires than any other community in the
nation.
Vessels passing through the West Passage of Narragansett Bay,
an increasingly busy waterway in the early 1800s, had to contend
with a narrow channel between Warwick Neck and the northern extremity
of Patience Island, less than a mile to the southeast. It's believed
that a privately operated beacon was in use at the end of Warwick
Neck in Colonial times.
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- The first Warwick Lighthouse
- From the collection of Edward Rowe
Snow, courtesy of Dorothy Bicknell
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Congress appropriated $3,000 in 1825 and 1826 for a proper
lighthouse at the point. Three acres of land were bought from
the Green family for $750, and construction began. The first
lighthouse on Warwick Neck was small and unusual, consisting
of a 30-foot tower atop a tiny stone dwelling with only two rooms,
each about 11 feet square.
The tower was square at its base, but the corners toward the
top were cut back to form an octagonal shape. The lighting apparatus
consisted of eight lamps, each with a 9-inch reflector. The light
was established in early 1827. The lighting was delayed a bit
because the first keeper appointed, a man named Burke, turned
down the position.
The first keeper to live at the station, Elisha Case, was
provided insufficient living space for himself and his family,
and the house was exceedingly damp. Case was replaced by Daniel
Waite in 1831, but only after Case was granted the right to harvest
crops he had planted at the lighthouse. After Waite's death late
in 1832, his widow, Abby Waite, became the next keeper. A wood-frame
extension with three rooms added in 1833 improved the living
conditions, but there were still bothersome leaks at the junction
between the addition and the original structure.
Alfred Fish was the keeper when a hurricane swept the coast
on September 8, 1869, passing just to the west of the area. Luckily,
the storm's worst effects were felt at the time of low tide.
Still, the light station's outhouses were demolished, and the
roof of the keeper's house was badly damaged. Fences were also
blown down, and much of the bluff near the lighthouse was eaten
away. Needed repairs were quickly completed.
- U.S. Coast Guard photo
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The original lamps and reflectors were replaced by a fourth-order
Fresnel lens in 1856.
A fog bell and striking machinery were added to the station
in 1882. Five years later, the keeper's dwelling was described
as "very old and dilapidated." Funds were appropriated
and a new house, further back from the edge of the bluff, was
constructed in 1889. The 1833 addition to the original dwelling
was moved onto a new foundation in 1892 and remodeled into a
barn.
A powerful new siren succeeded the station's fog bell in 1900,
sounding a continuous blast during times of low visibility.
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Erosion ate away at the bank over the years until, by the
1930s, the lighthouse was threatened.
A new cast-iron tower with an electric light was built in
1932, one of the last traditional-style lighthouses built in
New England.
Six years later the hurricane of 1938 struck, causing so much
erosion that the new lighthouse was in danger of toppling over
the cliff. The tower was moved about 50 feet inland with hydraulic
jacks. Its light continued to shine during the move.
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When the tower was moved, it was placed atop a new concrete
foundation. The old door, seen in the photo at the right, was
permanently sealed.
Harry A. Wilbur became keeper in 1953. The Coast Guard took
over the operation of the nation's lighthouses in 1939, and the
civilian Lighthouse Service keepers were given the option of
joining the Coast Guard or not. Wilbur, who had been a Lighthouse
Service keeper in Massachusetts going back to 1937, chose to
remain a civilian. He spent a decade at Warwick Light, retiring
in 1963. In 1968, Wilbur was honored at a ceremony at the Coast
Guard base at Woods Hole on Cape Cod. With Wilbur's retirement,
Warwick Light belatedly became a Coast Guard family station.
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Alan Penney was the Coast Guard officer in charge from February
1978 to April 1982. He and his wife had a daughter born at the
station in 1981.
William Knight became the officer in charge in 1982 and would
be the last person to hold that title. When it grew foggy and
Knight lost sight of Hog Island, about five miles away, he'd
switch on the foghorn. Knight said he would frequently receive
calls from residents to the north who heard the horn and insisted
there was no fog. They didn't realize that the fog often hung
on more persistently to the south of Warwick Neck.
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- U.S. Coast Guard photo
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- Unlike most similar towers, Warwick
Light has no brick lining. It also has an unusually-shaped stairway.
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Warwick Light was automated in 1985, with a modern optic replacing
the old Fresnel lens. It continues to exhibit its flashing green
light as an active aid to navigation.
A Coast Guard family lives in the 1889 keeper's house. The
lighthouse can be seen at a distance from the locked gate of
the station at the end of Warwick Neck Road, but is better viewed
from the water.
You can read much more about this lighthouse in the book The Lighthouses
of Rhode Island by Jeremy D'Entremont.
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Skylights in the lantern room floor allow sunlight into the tower
below. |
Webmaster Jeremy D'Entremont, left, with Coast Guard Cmdr. Tom
Jones, resident of the light station, in the lantern room in
October 2004. Photo by Brian Tague. |
- A view from the top. The breakwater
in the photo is one of the methods implemented to slow the erosion
of the land at the end of Warwick Neck.
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Keepers (thanks
to Robert I. Dennis for his help with this list): Elisha
Case (1826-1831); Daniel Waite (1831-1841); John Rice (1841-1845);
John N. Greene (1845-1849); Franklin McGuire (1849-1853); Stephen
W. Arnold (1853-1861); William Tanner (1861-1866); Theodore E.
Anthony (1866-1867); Alfred Fish (1867-1870); Clarford L. Woodman
(1870-1873); Joseph Smith (1873-1886); George H. Burroughs (1886);
Edward F. Hovie (1886-1898); James McCann (1898-1901); Joseph
D. Burke (1901-1905); Nathaniel Dodge (1905); Edward Barnes Cole
(1905-1906); Charles F. Mulford (1906-1908); William H. N. Lake
(1908-1912); Thomas J. Murphy (1st asst., 1909); ? Anderson (1st
asst., 1909-1910); J. H. Gregorie (1st asst., 1910); Walter Whitford
(1st asst., 1910-1911); Edward M. Grant (1st asst., 1911-1912);
Charles L. Fletcher (1st asst., 1912-1915); Jorden Bakken (1912-1932);
Willus (Willis?) A. Green (1st asst., 1915-1921); Edward Murphy
(1st asst., 1921-1932, head keeper 1932-at least 1946); Harry
Wilbur (1953-1963), Luther Jacobsen (Coast Guard, 1975-1977),
Alan Penney (Coast Guard, February 1978 - April 1982), William
Knight (Coast Guard, 1981-1985)
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