Sabin Point Lighthouse

New England Lighthouse Wallpaper Guide to

Sabin Point Light Station

First Lit: Nov 4, 1872; Deactivated: 1968
at Position: N 41° 46.2', W 71° 22.59' Nautical Chart
East side of the Providence River, Providence, Rhode Island

Public Access:

Characteristic:

Original optic:

Day-mark:

Tower Height:

Fog signal:

First Keeper:

Current Use:

Demolished (5)

F R [Fixed Red] (2)

Sixth-order Fresnel lens - 1873 (3);   Present optic: none (5)

White Octagonal Wood Tower with Black Lantern

? feet;   Height of focal plane: 49 feet;   Range: 7.5 miles

none;   1899 - Fog Bell; 1907 - Bell struck by Machine every 9 seconds

Joseph Bower, Nov 7, 1872 (4)

Demolished (5)

Notes:
(1) Sabin Point Lighthouse was built 1,300 feet offshore from Sabin Point to mark a hazardous shoal in the Providence River and to signal a sharp turn in the main shipping channel. Any ship voyaging outside the river channel at Sabin Point would be instantly grounded in sand or soft mud.

Due to the increased shipping of manufacturing goods and passenger navigation since 1866, a ongoing program upgraded navigation aids in the Narragansett Bay and the Providence River near Providence Harbor, a busy port between Sassafras Point and Fox Point, in the early 1870s by establishing new Lighthouses at Sassafras Point, Fuller Rock, Pomham Rocks, Sabin Point, and Bullocks Point.

A square pier foundation constructed with Granite blocks was built at a 8-feet deep shallow point in the river to support a 2-story Keeper’s House and a Lantern Room Tower supported by the mansard roof. The Architectural Style of the Lighthouse was Second Empire Integral (similar to Pomham Rocks Lighthouse) with a Watch room and bedrooms located on the second floor and a ladder for access to the Lantern Room. Rainwater from the roof was filtered by charcoal and stored in a 4,215-gallon cistern. A oil room, kitchen, dining room, and a sitting room were located on the first floor.

U.S. Coast Guard Photograph of Sabin Point Light

Sabin Point Light was First Lit on November 4, 1872 exhibiting a Fixed Red Light illuminated by a Sixth-order Fresnel lens 49-feet above sea level. The three Civilian Light Keepers, Joseph Bower (or Bowes? - Nov 7, 1872 to 1877), John Weeden (1877 to Oct 27, 1916), and Charles E. Whitford (Oct 27, 1916 to April 1, 1943) were also kept busy rescuing passengers of small boats.

(2) 1873 Characteristic was a Fixed White Light
1907 Characteristic was changed to Fixed Red Light

(3) 1939 Optic: Fourth-order Fresnel lens, Fixed Red, 870 cp. Incandescent oil vapor.

(4) One Keeper was responsible for both Sabin Point Light and Bullocks Point Light from 1872 to 1876. In 1876, the portable beacon at Bullocks Point Light was replaced by a 2-story Victorian Lighthouse.

(5) The Lighthouse was demolished in 1968 for deepening and widening the river shipping channel. Sabin Point Daybeacon SP, Aid No. 18455 - NR on dolphin, was placed on the east side of the Sabin Point Reach shipping channel.