Book Description

250 years of history about America's 3rd oldest lighthouse, beginning before the Revolutionary War, about the people, its development, and those that used this navigation aid at the entrance of Narragansett Bay. Technological innovation and federal bureaucratic conflict as four different organizations beginning in 1749 attempt to improve operations and reliability. Navigation hazards, shipwrecks, piloting, light improvements and fog signal experiments made Rhode Island's Beavertail Light Station one of the most important landmarks in New England. The book follows the early slave trade and Colonists who insisted the lighthouse be built and describes the work ethics and reporting requirements of the generations of 'Keepers' who tended the light. Modern methods, electricity and improved operations are taken over by the US Coast Guard to automate the light station replacing whale oil and fossil fuel burners used by the US Lighthouse Board during the 1800's