The Sabin Point Light was a lighthouse in the

Providence River The Providence River is a tidal river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows approximately 8 miles (13 km). There are no dams along the river's length, although the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier is located south of downtown to protect t ...

. It was removed as part of a channel-widening project in 1968.

History

This light was constructed in 1872 to mark a bend in the shipping channel southwest of Sabin Point. The

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

style house was constructed according to a plan by Albert R. Dow, the winning design in a contest sponsored by the Lighthouse Service. Nearly identical lights were constructed at Colchester Reef, Pomham Rocks, Esopus Meadows Light and Rose Island. Initially the keeper also had responsibility for the beacon which was replaced in 1876 by the Bullock's Point Light. The light weathered the hurricane of 1938 fairly well, albeit with serious flood damage to the first floor. The keeper's wife, Annie Whitford, was washed away three times, but managed not only to survive but to keep the light going through the storm. On a less perilous note, two of her daughters were married at the light, the second to the son of the keeper of the Warwick Light. In 1956 the light was converted to electricity and automated. In 1968 widening of the shipping channel led the harbor authority to order the removal of the light, and it was burned down and the foundation razed. An automated beacon was placed on a

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...

nearby; the light was discontinued in 1989 and replaced with a

day beacon A day beacon (sometimes "daybeacon") is an unlighted nautical sea mark. A signboard identifying it is called a day mark. Day beacons typically mark channels whose key points are marked by lighted buoys. They may also mark smaller navigable rout ...

References

* * * {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1872 Lighthouses in Rhode Island Buildings and structures demolished in 1968 1872 establishments in Rhode Island