Browse Items (17 total)
Sort by:
Description of Lighthouse Tower
The Granite Light tower was built in 1856, standing at 56ft high above hightide. It has an identical tower at Watch Hill Light, however, it is lesser in height. The tower has 2ft thick wall with more than 4,500 blocks in it. Inside the tower, there…
Creation of Beavertail State Park
Storyboard describing the events leading to the creation of Beavertail State Park.
Beavertail 1942-1974 (War Years & The Cold War)
Storyboard describing events at Beavertail from 1942 through 1974, "The War Years", and "The Cold War"
Lighthouse Models Display
Models of lighthousesbuilt by Joe Bouchard.
Tower Spiral Staircase Support Bracket
This is one of the 49 cast iron tread support brackets installed in1856 when the present tower was built. Over 150 years the stresses of settlement have caused a few of the weldments to snap.Modem engineers have determined that the tread supports…
Brenton Reef Lightship Model
This model ship was of the Lightship Brenton LV102, which was stationed off Brenton Reef and was active from 1935 until 1962.
The Brenton ship model was created by Varjouran Karentz in 2018.
Shipwrecks in Narragansett Bay
Storyboard displaying various shipwrecks occurring on Narraganset Bay over the years.
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…
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 Wall Exhibit
This wall panel provides the history of the Fresnel lens and its inventor Agustin Jean Fresnel.
Lighthouse Models in Display Case
These models represent the Lighthouse structures that have stood at Beavertail over the years
The model of the first lighthouse was constructed by Varoujan Karentz in 2020.
The maker of the second Lighthouse model is unknown.
The third model,…
Gaslight Wall Panel
Wall Panel depicting the invention and history of gas lighting in Newport, RI, and at Beavertail Lighthouse.