New England Lighthouse Treasures

After 30 years of leasing the Keeper’s house to Lighthouse Caretakers, Jamestown Administrator Bruce Keiser has recommended terminating the town’s License of Beavertail Lighthouse. In recent months, the Coast Guard, the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum Association, and the Beavertail State Park Advisory Committee have been concerned about using the Lighthouse as affordable housing for families with children.

The Coast Guard, who licensed Beavertail Lighthouse to Jamestown to maintain the scenic property, was unaware that the town was leasing the Keeper’s house for 30 years! How do civilian caretakers slip through the cracks of the Coast Guard who maintains and operates the Active Beacon in the Lighthouse?

Currently, the Coast Guard is concerned about the liability of lead-paint problems with children living there. Ironically, Coast Guard Light-keeper Domenic Turillo, who was assigned to Beavertail Lighthouse in 1951, was the father of 11 young children!

The Beavertail Lighthouse Museum Association and the Beavertail State Park Advisory Committee also object to the affordable housing and claim the caretaker should be maintaining the grounds and some of the buildings.

Unfortunately, the news article does not indicate whether Jamestown complied with J. J. Metcalf’s, commander of the USCG Civil Engineering Unit Providence, order to stop using Lighthouse’s caretaker quarters for affordable housing.

The Department of Environmental Management, Beavertail Lighthouse Museum Association, and Jamestown’s Beavertail Acquisition Committee are meeting to discuss the disposition of the Lighthouse ownership on October 17, 2007. Regardless of the meeting’s outcome, the Coast Guard will have the final word in which organization or partnerships will maintain and manage the 151 year old Beavertail Lighthouse.
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Beavertail Lighthouse was the third colonial Lighthouse built in America to guide shipping entering the East Passage of the Narragansett Bay en-route to Newport Harbor. The current 52-foot high square Granite Tower was built in 1856 and currently exhibits a Flashing White Light every 6-seconds illuminated by a Third-order Fresnel lens 64-feet above sea level to a visible range of 15 nautical miles. For more information about Beavertail Lighthouse, please click on the photo of this post.

Map Location:
For a Map location, please visit the Google Map of Beavertail Lighthouse

Related News Story:
Keiser: town should forfeit any claim to Beavertail Lighthouse ownership

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