Gull Rock lighthouse

The Gull Rocks Lighthouse was in operation from 1887-1969. Located at the north entrance to Newport Harbor, across from Naval Station Newport, and northwest of Rose Island, its coordinates are Lat 41 30 12 N - Long 71 20 01 W.

Before the lighthouse's establishment, the Old Colony Steamboat Company placed a light at Gull Rocks to help their ships navigate around shallow rocks. By 1885, the Lighthouse Board agreed to replace it with a government lighthouse. A Congressional appropriation act in 1886 funding its construction for $10,000. In 1887, the A-frame lighthouse was completed. Two lanterns -- one red and one white -- were hung from rails on the east and west gables of the lighthouse. In 1928, the two lights were replaced with a single acetylene gas lamp on a 45-foot skeleton tower.

In 1956 the light was converted from acetylene gas to electricity, vastly improving its lumosity from 120 to 900 candlepower. The Newport Naval Station provided a generator in case of a power outage.

In 1960, the Coast Guard automated the Gull Rocks Lighthouse so that it no longer had to be manned. The living quarters had fallen into disrepair, and the renovations would have been too costly. The Newport Daily News reported, "the light’s 'new look' will be flashing green every six seconds and the intensity will be boosted to 1,800 candlepower. As previously announced, the light and foghorn will be controlled by Coast Guardsmen at the nearby Rose Island light station."

The Coast Guard demolished the Gull Rocks Lighthouse by burning it on July 12, 1969. After the fire, the remaining structures were an oil house and a concrete pier, still visible today.

When the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge was completed in 1969, the light was discontinued. The bridge's span was so low to the water over Gull Rocks that ships couldn't pass, rendering the need for a light obsolete.

In 1972, the federal government offered the remaining lighthouse to any local or state government for free, but no feasible uses were identified. Ultimately the government sold the site to Frank Manuella, an artist, for $3,462. Since then it has been passed through several different ownerships.

List of Gull Rocks Lighthouse Keepers

• Frederick W. Purinton (1887 – 1894)
• Edward Sherman (1894)
• Adolph Obman (1901)
• Thomas M. Nelson (1901 – 1903)
• George H. Porter (1903 – 1909)
• Oather F. Kirby (1909 – at least 1913)
• Joseph O. Bouley ( – 1914)
• John "Jack" Larsson (at least 1915 – 1923)
• Alfred Auger (1924 – 1925)
• Michael A. Dayley (1925 – at least 1926)
• George W. Denton (at least 1927)
• James Gallen (1930 – 1945)
• Alfred J. Roy (at least 1949)

Sources: “Gull Rocks Light.” Wikipedia, 24 Dec. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gull_Rocks_Light&oldid=1129195407.

Gull Rocks Lighthouse - Rhode Island. http://www.rhodeislandlighthousehistory.info/gull_rocks_lighthouse.html. Accessed 1 July 2024.

“Gull Rocks Light History.” NEW ENGLAND LIGHTHOUSES: A VIRTUAL GUIDE, http://www.newenglandlighthouses.net/gull-rocks-light-history.html. Accessed 1 July 2024.

Newport This Week Staff. “Lighthouse of the Week: Gull Rocks Lighthouse - Newport This Week.” Newport This Week -, 6 Oct. 2022, https://www.newportthisweek.com/articles/lighthouse-of-the-week-gull-rocks-lighthouse/.