The Newport Harbor Light, also known as the Goat Island Light or Green Light, built in 1842, is located on north end of
Goat Island, which is part of the city of
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...
, United States, in
Narragansett Bay
Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. Sma ...
.
The light was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1988.
History
The first light on Goat Island was constructed in 1823-1824, but was later transported to
Prudence Island
Prudence Island is the third-largest island in Narragansett Bay in the state of Rhode Island and part of the town of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, United States. It is located near the geographic center of the bay. It is defined by the United Sta ...
in 1851, where the structure still remains as the
Prudence Island Light.
The current light was constructed in 1842 a few yards off the coast of Goat Island, and was connected to Goat Island by a narrow dike (the area was filled in the 1960s for the hotel) because the previous light failed in adequately warning ships of a reef just a few yards off Goat Island. The original lighting apparatus, however, was transferred to the newer lighthouse in 1842.
In 1864,an attached lighthouse keeper's house was built. In 1921, a submarine hit the breakwater, damaging the foundation of the keeper's house. An electric light was placed in the tower the following year. The damaged keeper's dwelling was later torn down.
After a private developer purchased Goat Island in the 1960s, the land between the northern end of Goat Island and the light was filled in to build a hotel. In 2000, the Coast Guard leased the light to the
American Lighthouse Foundation; it is managed by the Friends of Newport Harbor Lighthouse.
Gallery
File:Goat Island lighthouse.jpg, Postcard c.1905 of the Newport Harbor Light with the 1864 keeper's house still attached
File:Newport Harbor Light in Newport, Rhode Island (2008).jpg, The lighthouse with the Newport Bridge in the background
File:Goat Island Lighthouse in front of Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (15377925362).jpg, The light in 2014
File:Prudence Island Light 2007 crop.jpg, Prudence Island Light, ''circs'' 1824, was the original Newport Harbor Lighthouse until it was transported to Prudence Island in 1851.
See also
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References
External links
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Lighthouses in Newport County, Rhode Island
Buildings and structures in Newport, Rhode Island
Narragansett Bay
Lighthouses completed in 1824
Lighthouses completed in 1842
Lighthouses completed in 1864
Houses completed in 1864
Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island
National Register of Historic Places in Newport, Rhode Island
1824 establishments in Rhode Island
Tourist attractions in Newport, Rhode Island