Gull Rocks Light
Encyclopedia
Not to be confused with the Gull Rock Light in Lake Superior
.
The Gull Rocks Light was a lighthouse
at the entrance to Newport harbor
northwest of Rose Island
. A unique A-frame
structure, it was supplemented with a skeleton tower in 1928.
In 1885 the Lighthouse Service made its first request to replace this lamp with a federal lighthouse, but the replacement was not constructed until 1887. The wooden A-frame house was unlike anything else in the area, and it had neither tower nor lantern room. Instead, a lamp was hung in either gable: red on one end, and white on the other. The unique roof caused some problems with the usual practice of collecting rainwater in cisterns, as it was prone to contamination from salt spray. The first keeper, Frederick Purinton, was badly injured in 1894 by an assailant believed to be a local lobsterman, and quit the post two weeks later.
In 1900 the original lamps were replaced by brighter lanterns, but the same arrangement of hanging them obtained. Then in 1928 a small skeleton tower was erected next to the house, sporting an acetylene lamp. The station survived the devastating hurricane of 1938 and was manned until 1960, when the light was automated and the house demolished. In 1969 construction of the Newport Bridge
, which passes immediately adjacent to the rocks, rendered the light useless, and the tower was likewise removed, leaving the tiny oil house as the sole remaining trace of the station.
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
.
The Gull Rocks Light was a lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
at the entrance to Newport harbor
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
northwest of Rose Island
Rose Island
- In Canada :*Rose Island in Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, Ont.*Rose Island in the South Arm Marshes of the Fraser River delta, also known as Rose-Kirkland Island, B.C....
. A unique A-frame
A-Frame house
An A-frame is an architectural house style featuring steeply-angled sides that usually begin at or near the foundation line, and meet at the top in the shape of the letter A...
structure, it was supplemented with a skeleton tower in 1928.
History
The Gull Rocks obstruct the passage north of Rose Island, and in the mid-19th century the Old Colony Steamboat Company took steps to mark the reef. Initially an employee of the company was stationed on the rocks with a horn; later, a lamp on a post was erected.In 1885 the Lighthouse Service made its first request to replace this lamp with a federal lighthouse, but the replacement was not constructed until 1887. The wooden A-frame house was unlike anything else in the area, and it had neither tower nor lantern room. Instead, a lamp was hung in either gable: red on one end, and white on the other. The unique roof caused some problems with the usual practice of collecting rainwater in cisterns, as it was prone to contamination from salt spray. The first keeper, Frederick Purinton, was badly injured in 1894 by an assailant believed to be a local lobsterman, and quit the post two weeks later.
In 1900 the original lamps were replaced by brighter lanterns, but the same arrangement of hanging them obtained. Then in 1928 a small skeleton tower was erected next to the house, sporting an acetylene lamp. The station survived the devastating hurricane of 1938 and was manned until 1960, when the light was automated and the house demolished. In 1969 construction of the Newport Bridge
Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge
The Claiborne Pell Bridge, commonly known as the Newport Bridge, is a suspension bridge operated by the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority that spans the East Passage of the Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island , connecting the City of Newport on Aquidneck Island and the Town of Jamestown on...
, which passes immediately adjacent to the rocks, rendered the light useless, and the tower was likewise removed, leaving the tiny oil house as the sole remaining trace of the station.