Block Island South East Light - New Shoreham, RI - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

In New Shoreham (Block Island), is the South East Light, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The lighthouse is located off Spring Street, where it curves from east-west to north-south. There is parking at the site. The building was not open at the time of visit (it was past Columbus Day) but the grounds are open during daylight hours. The tower may be open during the summer.

The lighthouse is a red brick building about three and a half stories tall and the tower that extends to a fourth floor. The lens at the top is a first order lens. The building has two living quarters - one for each lighthouse keeper stationed there. The lighthouse has been on the bluff since 1874. This brick structure replaced the previous structure, which was washed away in a storm.

From the nomination form:

"The Light Tower and Keepers House The principal structure of the lighthouse station consists of a 5-story brick light tower and 2-1 /2-story duplex residence with identical 1-1/2-story kitchen wings located at the rear. A short 1-1/2-story hyphen connects these two elements. Both the residence and tower are constructed of brick and have granite ashlar foundations and granite trim. Below ground the structure rests on a brick foundation. The tower lantern and gallery is of cast-iron and was cast by Paulding, Kemble & Company. Following designs produced by the Light House Board in 1873, the residence and tower were built in 1874 by contractor T.H. Tynan of Staten Island, in the High Victorian Gothic style. The original lighthouse and attached keepers house structures retain a high level of integrity. To prevent it from slipping into the Atlantic as the bluff eroded away, the lighthouse was moved, during August 1993, approximately 250 feet back from the edge of Mohegan Bluffs. As the lighthouse remains within the historic boundaries of the station, the integrity of the light station's setting, feeling, and association has been maintained.

The Tower

The light tower is 67' high and is composed of an octagonal granite base, an octagonal pyramidal shaft, a circular cast-iron parapet surrounding an open octagonal gallery and a 16-sided lantern encircled by an open circular gallery. The whole is capped by a 16-sided pyramidal roof. Aside from the replacement of the original wrought-iron railings with galvanized steel railings in the two galleries, the replacement of the historic lens with an inappropriate substitute, and the replacement of the original iron-plate roof with copper, the tower structure is essentially unaltered. The tower shaft consists of two brick shells connected by cross walls. The outer shell forms the hollow frustum of an octagonal pyramid while the inner one is the hollow frustum of a cone. At its base, the shaft has a 25-foot diameter, which decreases to a 15-foot diameter at the base of the lantern. The tower is entered through the connecting hyphen on the first floor and contains a circular iron stairway attached to the wall, with semi-circular landings on the second and third floors supported by wrought-iron beams and brick corbel tables. On the first and third floors, six narrow double-ing sash windows in cast-iron frames, set in segmental arched openings in the north, east, and south walls, light the interior of the tower. Originally, the first floor served as the oil room. Today the three cast-iron and brick shelves, on which the lightkeepers stored 100-gallon oil butts, are still in place."

This light was decommissioned in 1990, but relit in 1994.

Street address: Spring Street New Shoreham, RI United States of America 02807 County / Borough / Parish: Washington Year listed: 1997 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture, Transportation, Maritime History Periods of significance: 1925-1949, 1900-1924, 1875-1899, 1850-1874 Historic function: Transportation Current function: Agriculture/Subsistence, Transportation, Work In Progress Privately owned?: no Season start / Season finish: From: 01/01/2017 To: 12/31/2017 Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Secondary Website 2: [Web Link] Hours of operation: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

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