BRISTOL FERRY

Type:
Year Established:
1846
Existing:
Yes
Source:
LL-1908
Bristol Ferry RI 2006.jpg
Download:
File Type:
jpg (image/jpeg)
Photo Date:
2006
Photo Courtesy of:
US Lighthouse Society
Collection / Donor:

LOCATION

Location:
STRAIT BETWEEN MOUNT HOPE AND NARRAGANSETT BAYS
Latitude:
41° 38.34'
Longitude:
71° 15.39'
City / Town:
BRISTOL
U.S. State:
Rhode Island
Location County:
BRISTOL
Country:
United States

OWNER & ACCESS

Open to Public:
No
Light List Data:
  1. BRISTOL FERRY
Light list data courtesy Gary Riemenschneider

STRUCTURE

Year Discontinued:
1927
Year Tower Established:
1855
Tower Construction Material:
BRICK
Height of light above mean high water, in feet:
33 feet above water
Height, in feet, from base of structure to center of lantern:
28 feet
Tower Shape:
SQUARE WITH FAUX LANTERN
Tower Daymark:
White
Fog Signal Building?:
No
Keeper's Quarters?:
Yes
Year Keeper's Quarters:
1855
Keeper's Quarters Style:
FEDERAL REVIVAL
Keeper's Quarters Construction:
BRICK
Other Structures:
BRICK OIL HOUSE (1904)

OPTICS

Active Aid to Navigation?:
No
Current Optic:
REMOVED
Original Optic Type:
fifth ORDER, FRESNEL
Year Original Lens Installed:
1855
Private Aid:
No
USCG Access to Optics:
No
Comments:

HISTORICAL INFORMATION:

  • The first lighthouse at the confluence of the Mount Hope River and Narragansett Bay was a short wooden tower that was operated as a private aid to navigation.
  • 1855: The present lighthouse is a brick house with an attached 28-ft. tall brick tower capped with a wooden deck and lantern. The light was established on October 4, 1855, using a sixth-order classical lens and a whale oil lamp.
  • 1902:This optic was replaced in 1902 with an electrified fifth-order Fresnel lens.
  • 1916: The tower was raised 6 FT. to its present height in 1916 to accommodate a cast-iron lantern room removed from the old Roundout Lighthouse on the Hudson River.
  • 1927: In 1927 the Bristol Ferry Light was discontinued and replaced by a steel skeleton tower; three years later this automatic light was discontinued after it was made obsolete with the building of the Mount Hope Bridge.
  • 1928: The government removed the lantern room and sold the property in 1928; it has remained in private hands since then.
  • 1996:The latest owners (since 1996) installed a new, faux lantern room containing an automatic light that comes on for two hours each evening.
  • 1999: As of December 1999, the lighthouse was again up for sale with an asking price of $419,000.
Entered by:
t.wheeler
Entered Date:
Jul 21, 2017