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U.S. Navy Azimuth Circle
This navigation tool was used to take bearings and sunlines.
It is on loan to BLMA from the Collection of Captain Christopher Karentz.
Radio Direction Finder (RDF)
This Radio Direction Finder (RDF) is typical of those used in vessels for navigation purposes by determining the bearing of radio signals transmitting from shore stations and lightships. The radio beacon from the Brenton Reef lightship and later the…
Marina Radio Activated Sound Signal (MRASS)
Marina Radio Activated Sound Signal (MRASS) installed in fog-prone locations enables vessels equipped with VHF radio to activate the fog signal located at the lighthouse or other fixed location. The Marina keys his "push to talk" button on Channel…
U.S. Lighthouse Service Brass Lighthouse Keeper's Dustpan
The brass dustpan was an essential tool used to keep the lighthouse "spot clean". Many were marked with "U.S. Light House Service".
This dustpan was donated to BLMA by Teresa & David Emond of Jamestown and was originally used by Keeper Edward…
Warwick Neck Lighthouse
May Chrietzbert was born in the Warwick Neck lighthouse in 1913, shortly after her father, Jorgen Bakken, became keeper. She and her sister, now Madeline Wright, grew up near the old lighthouse. In 1932, erosion threatened to undermine the building.…
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.
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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
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…
"Early Lights" Wall Exhibit
This storyboard presents stories of the earliest lighthouses in Rhode Island and Narragansett Bay.
"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