The Brenton Reef Light was a Texas tower lighthouse at the entrance to Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, United States, south of Beavertail Point. Erected to replace a lightship in 1962, it was decommissioned in 1989 due to its deteriorating condition.
History
This offshore station was marked by a succession of lightships beginning in 1853, with new vessels being assigned to the station in 1856, 1897, and 1935. In the early 1960s the United States Coast Guard initiated a program to replace these lightships with large steel towers, commonly known as Texas towers. Brenton Reef was selected for such replacement, but a somewhat smaller facility was constructed instead. This light was originally a manned station, with living quarters and galley, as well as engine room to supply power to the light and living quarters. It was connected to the Beavertail Light by submarine cables and maintained by Coast Guardsmen out of the Newport, Rhode Island station, and was converted to fully automatic operation during its active lifetime. At its activation in 1962, it became the second such light tower on the east coast.
These towers deteriorated relatively quickly, and in 1983 the Coast Guard first suggested decommissioning it. It was retained, however, due to the proximity of the America's Cup races. In 1989 the Coast Guard announced that the light was to be removed, and in 1992 it was dismantled. The following year the pieces were sunk off Long Island as part of an artificial reef. A lighted buoy replaced the tower at a position somewhat further south, where it remains at present.
Keepers
Lightship LV-14 (1853–1856) KeeperYearsDavid C. Champlin 1853 John Heath 1853–1854 Edward E. Taylor 1854 Samuel Dunn 1854 Josiah K. Pitman 1854–1861
Lightship LV-11 (1856–1897) KeeperYearsJosiah K. Pitman 1854–1861Joseph Sherman 1861–1865George Bardick 1865Charles D. Marsh 1865–1866George Williams 1866–1868Clarke Bardick 1868–1871Charles D. Marsh 1871–1886David H. Caulkins 1886–1888Edward Fogarty 1888–1898
Lightship LV-39 (1897–1935)
Keeper Years Edward Fogarty 1888–1898 Charles A. Hawkins 1898–1917 Karl M. Larsen 1917–1919 Fred J. Worth 1919 Martin Berg 1919–1922 Harold White 1922–1923 Theodor Anderson 1923–1927 Charles Steijen 1927 Theodor Anderson 1927 John B. Kelly 1927 Frederic Sundloff 1927–1929 August E. Gustafson 1929-?Unknown 1929–1939
Lightship LV-102/WAL 525 (1945–1962) Keeper Years Unknown 1929–1939 Norman Gray, Master 1939–?Unknown ?–1961 Edward Godlewski 1961–1963
Lighthouse (1962–1989) KeeperYearsEdward Godlewski 1961–1963Unknown 1963–1989
References