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The Funck-Heap Lamp
This lamp was introduced in 1892. It was the standard lamp that was used in the 4th Order lenses in many lighthouses. It was a standard "Argand lamp" with a single 1 1/8 inch wick.
With a few alterations, the same lamp was used for the 5th and 6th…
1000 Watt Bulb & Automatic Bulb Changer
1000 Watt Bulb - used in Beavertail's DCB-24 Beacon from 1991 until 2018. Automatic bulb changer. - This was most commonly used in buoys and fixed lights. This mechanism sensed a burned-out bulb and automatically replaced it with a new one.
USCG Navigation Lights Poster
A poster depicting the various navigation lights on display in the Lens Room at Beavertail Lighthouse Museum.
"Preservation" Wall Exhibit
This storyboard highlights preservation efforts that have rescued some local lighthouses. Included are Pomham Rocks, Plum Beach, Rose Island, Sokonnet, Dutch Island, Block Island, and Beavertail.
"The Decline" Wall Exhibit
This storyboard tells the story of several lighthouses that no longer exist due to weather events, deterioration over time, or by being intentionally destroyed. Included are Sabin Point, Gull Rock Light, Whale Rock Light, Bristol Ferry Light, and…
"The Golden Age" Wall Exhibit
This storyboard summarizes the building and expansion of lighthouses in Rhode Island and Narragansett Bay waters in the 18th and 19th century
"Early Lights" Wall Exhibit
This storyboard presents stories of the earliest lighthouses in Rhode Island and Narragansett Bay.
1749 Foundation Stone
This is a stone from the original foundation of the 1st Lighthouse, built in 1749. The erosion caused by the Great Hurricane of 1938 exposed the foundation and in 2012 it was restored to its original state. The foundation can be viewed in front of…
Wooden model of the Beavertail Light Station
Painted wooden model of the Beavertail Light Station, 11 1/2" tall on a 16" wide by 11 1/2" wooden base. Created by Robert Dennis
5 Gallon Oil Container
This oil can was used to carry the whale oil up to the top of the tower to keep the light lit. Visitors are invited to try and lift the can and imagine carrying that can of oil up the 49 steps.
Fresnel Lens
The lens on display in the center of this room is a fourth-order lens that was in the tower at Beavertail until it was replaced in 1991 by a rotating beacon.
The lens can be open to allow visitors to see inside.
Touching the glass prisms is…
VM 100 Fog Detector
This Detector was in operation at Beavertail for 20 years and was replaced by the Mariner Radio Activated Sound System (MRASS) in 2019
Designed by Fidelity Technologies, PA as a backscatter particle light detector. It comprises a XENON Flash…
Keeper Carl Chellis
Carl Chellis (right) is shown receiving an award from Commanding Officer NAS Quonset Point for 40 years of federal service.
Mr. Chellis was the lighthouse keeper at Beavertail Station from January 1938 to 1945. He was there during the devastating…
Keeper Edward A. Donahue
Lighthouse Keeper at Beavertail for 33 years. He served for 42 years in Naval Service (US Navy, Us Lighthouse Service, US Coast Guard). Donahue was assigned to Beavertail Light in 1920 as an Assitant Keeper to Keeper George Manders.He succeeded…
Lighthouse Keeper Henry Whaley Photo
Henry Whaley and his father, Joseph, kept this light from 1862 to 1908. Joseph's sister married Henry Cark, the first keeper of Block Island's Southeast light.
Joseph Whaley Jr was born at Point Judith Lighthouse in 1893 and lived there until he was…
Videograph B Fog Signal Detector
As the Coast Guard automated their lighthouses and removed Keepers who visually sighted fog and turned on the fog signal, a means to detect fog electronically was invented. This device became the standard sensor used by the US Coast Guard to detect…
Martin Thompson Sandy Point Lighthouse Photo
Martin Thompson was keeper of Sandy Point lighthouse from 1905 until his retirement in 1933. Thompson was one of five people drowned when the 1938 hurricane swept away the keeper's house where they had gathered for protection from the storm.
As a…
Beavertail Keeper Peter Lee & Family Photo
During the Civil War. Peter Lee applied to become keeper in order to free a younger man to enlist in the Union Army. His daughter Ella was nine at the time, the third of six children. In later years Ella liked to tell stories of those days to her…
Beavertail Keeper Dominic Turillo Photo
Linda Levesque also grew up at Beavertail, one of eleven children. Her father, Domenic Turillo, was keeper there in the 1950s and 1960s.
One thing my mother didn't like very much was the inspections the Coast Guard had. My father would go bananas.…
Women Lighthouse Keeper's
There were many woman lighthouse keepers in RI Lighthouses
Bristol Ferry, Newport Harbor, Watch Hill, Lime Rock, Warwick Neck, and Beavertail had women keepers.