POMHAM ROCKS: The little lighthouse has lit the way for 150 years

From Page 3 use for the Pomham Rocks lighthouse or property anymore, and it put the island up for sale. Exxon Mobil Corp., which owns a large terminal just across the water on the Riverside shore, bought it in 1980 for just $40,100.

After that, the lighthouse remained mostly untended and forgotten for the next 20 years — though not forgotten by the folks living nearby. In 2000, a small group of them approached Exxon Mobil to ask about saving and restoring it. The corporation was accepting of the idea and even got the group started with a $25,000 donation. In 2004, Exxon Mobil leased the lighthouse and island to American Lighthouse Foundation, which is a parent organization for the Friends, for no cost.

When the Friends began working on the property in earnest, they found the tower was leaning 7 degrees off-center. They were warned that a good nor’easter could send it tumbling into the water below.

“It’s just sitting out here exposed on a rock. It’s exposed to every weather con- dition imaginable,” said Louse Paiva, a Friends board member, grant writer and public relations chair.

The Friends have celebrated several milestone moments in the past decade. In 2006, they gathered to watch as the lighthouse tower returned to life, its red light beaming for the first time in 32 years. In 2018, they gathered again to celebrate the end of an interior renovation funded largely by a Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission grant.

Better than ever

It’s not hyperbole to say the lighthouse today is better than ever. Tardiff suggested that the 19th-century Coast Guard did not devote a lot of energy to interior decorating, as everything inside the building was gray and plain. Today the wood floors shine, and bright walls bring life to the space.

The lighthouse tower has been been fixed and fortified, and the accompanying building has undergone a major renovation. The interior is authentic as it can be. The kitchen has been restored to what it would have looked like in the 1950s. The gleaming kitchen table dates back to 1947. The working refrigerator is from 1946. The stove is from 1953.

The small rooms are filled with historical pieces, the walls lined with photographs and descriptions of the items and their place in history.

Their most prized display is the lens that beamed out to mariners from 1926 to 1974. Called a “Fresnel” lens, because

RICHARD W. DIONNE JR

After more than 20 years of effort and with about $1.6 million in donations and grants, the Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse have carefully preserved and restored the property to a condition that is perhaps better than ever.

it was invented by French physicist Augustine-Jean Fresnel in the early 20th century, it looks like a beehive of glass. Comprised of 54 separate glass pieces, it emits parallel beams of light that could be seen 17 miles away.

After the Coast Guard decommissioned it in 1974, it was moved to a museum in Newburyport, Mass., and remained there for decades, until Tardiff and the Friends made some calls and convinced the Coast Guard to return it to its original home. It has been back at Pomham Rocks since 2021.

“Before radar, these Fresnel lenses were a key lifesaver for people who traveled the oceans and rivers. Otherwise, there was no way to get enough light to guide people, so it was high-tech in the day,” said Rick Lux, a member of the Friends who served as First Mate and assistant tour guide on the recent trip to Pomham Rocks.

In early years, the lens would have been lit by lard oil. Then it became kerosene. Today the Fresnel lens remains on display on the first floor, while a small LED light shines from atop the tower, powered by electricity running through an underwater cable from the Riverside mainland.

The historical displays continue on the second floor of the building. One room is devoted to the history of the lighthouses along the East Providence