Bristol Ferry Lighthouse, Bristol, Rhode Island
BRISTOL FERRY LIGHT
Location: STRAIT BETWEEN MOUNT HOPE AND NARRAGANSETT BAYS
Station Established: 1846
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1855
Operational? NO
Automated? YES 1928
Deactivated:
Foundation Materials:
Construction Materials: BRICK
Tower Shape: SQUARE WITH FAUX LANTERN
Height: 34-feet
Markings/Pattern: WHITE
Characteristics: Fixed red light
Relationship to Other Structure: ATTACHED
Original Lens: SIXTH ORDER, FRESNEL 1855
Foghorn: None
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.