Castle Hill Light (Newport, Rhode Island)

 lighthouse, place with historical importance

800-870 Ocean Avenue
Newport, RI 02840

The light was completed in 1890 on land that was formerly part of the Agassiz estate, and was sold to the government for $1.00. It marks the eastern side of the East Passage entrance into Narragansett Bay. The light is still active and as such is closed to the public, though the ledges around it are open to people staying at the Inn at Castle Hill.

"Lighthouse (1889-90): A short, random-course-granite conical structure, with a battered base square on the south side and round on the north, a tower 21 feet in diameter at its base, 14 feet in diameter at its parapet, and 42 feet from mean high tide to its focal plane. Wanting a structure that would not block his view to the southwest, Agassiz engaged Henry Hobson Richardson in 1885 or 1886 to design a lighthouse for this site; drawings for that project are in the Houghton Library Harvard University. After Richardson’s death, the project was scaled back and simplified. Electrified in 1957, the light is still in service."

great article on Agassiz's battle to keep the property here - www.lighthouse.cc/castlehill/history.html