The Gull Rocks Light was a
lighthouse at the entrance to
Newport harbor northwest of
Rose Island. A unique
A-frame
An A-frame is a basic structure designed to bear a load in a lightweight economical manner. The simplest form of an A-frame is two similarly sized beams, arranged in an angle of 45 degrees or less, attached at the top, like an uppercase lette ...
structure, it was supplemented with a skeleton tower in 1928.
History
The Gull Rocks obstruct the passage north of Rose Island, and in the mid-19th century the Old Colony Steamboat Company took steps to mark the reef. Initially an employee of the company was stationed on the rocks with a horn; later, a lamp on a post was erected.
In 1885 the Lighthouse Service made its first request to replace this lamp with a federal lighthouse, but the replacement was not constructed until 1887. The wooden A-frame house was unlike anything else in the area, and it had neither tower nor lantern room. Instead, a lamp was hung in either gable: red on one end, and white on the other. The unique roof caused some problems with the usual practice of collecting rainwater in cisterns, as it was prone to contamination from salt spray. The first keeper, Frederick Purinton, was badly injured in 1894 by an assailant believed to be a local lobsterman, and quit the post two weeks later.
In 1900 the original lamps were replaced by brighter lanterns, but the same arrangement of hanging them obtained. Then in 1928 a small skeleton tower was erected next to the house, sporting an acetylene lamp. The station survived the devastating
hurricane of 1938
The 1938 New England Hurricane (also referred to as the Great New England Hurricane and the Long Island Express Hurricane) was one of the deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclones to strike Long Island, New York, and New England. The stor ...
and was manned until 1960, when the light was automated and the house demolished. In 1969 construction of the
Newport Bridge, which passes immediately adjacent to the rocks, rendered the light useless, and the tower was likewise removed, leaving the tiny oil house as the sole remaining trace of the station.
References
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External links
Gull Rocks Lighthouse Plans and Maps 1887 - 1937
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Lighthouses completed in 1887
Lighthouses in Rhode Island
Lighthouses in Newport County, Rhode Island
1969 disestablishments in Rhode Island