Accessibility: 
Geographic coordinates: 41° 21' 42" N 71° 28' 54" W
Nearest town: Nearest town: Narragansett. Located on the west side of the entrance to Narragansett Bay.
Established: 1810. Present lighthouse built: 1857. Automated: 1954.
Height of tower: 51 feet. Height of focal plane: 65 feet.
Optic: Fourth-order Fresnel lens.
Characteristic: White light; 5 seconds on, 2 seconds off, 2 seconds on, 2 seconds off, 2 seconds on, 2 seconds off.
Fog signal: One blast every 15 seconds.
Point Judith extends more than a mile from the Rhode Island coast, marking the entrance to Narragansett Bay to the north and Block Island Sound to the south. The first lighthouse was built here in 1810 for $5,000. The octagonal wooden tower was destroyed in a hurricane in September 1815; the keeper’s house was damaged, but keeper John P. Whitford and his family escaped injury. A 35-foot octagonal stone lighthouse tower was erected the following year.
In November 1850, keeper Edgar Ravenswood Eaton received a warning from the local lighthouse superintendent, who had received a complaint that the light was out for more than two hours in the predawn hours one day. The superintendent called the occurrence “altogether inadmissable.” Eaton explained that he had been tending a sick child, but that was not considered a valid excuse. The light had to be on, no matter what.
The present octagonal brownstone tower was erected in 1857. A family dynasty of keepers began in 1862, when local native Joseph Whaley took charge. Whaley was keeper for twenty-seven years and was succeeded by his son, Henry, who stayed until 1910. At the time of his retirement, Joe Whaley voiced some resentment about complaints: “Why, every sailor man in the world has his eyes open to catch the lighthouse keepers and complain of them, and they do it every time they get a chance.”
The keeper’s house was demolished after automation in 1954. The lighthouse underwent a major restoration in 2000, with some of the original brownstone blocks being replaced. The new blocks were quarried in the same area in Connecticut where the original stone was quarried.
The lighthouse stands on the grounds of Coast Guard Station Point Judith; the station’s prominent main building was constructed in 1937. The grounds of the station are open to visitors during the day, but the lighthouse itself is not open. To reach the station, take Route 108 to the south from Route 1 in Wakefield. Follow Route 108 to the end, and then turn right onto Ocean Road. Follow Ocean Road to the parking lot at the end, near the Coast Guard station.
Fascinating Fact 
Some say Point Judith is named for the wife or mother-in-law of an early landowner, and others say it’s after the book of Judith in the Apocrypha of the Bible. There’s also a legend about a sea captain who was traveling by the point with his daughter, Judith, in thick fog. The daughter announced that she sighted land. The father, not seeing anything, exhorted his daughter: “Point, Judith, point!”
You can also view the lighthouse from the water aboard the lighthouse cruises offered by Snappa Charters, leaving from the Galilee section of Narragansett. Several cruises are offered for small groups. Call 401-782-4040 or visit www.snappacharters.com to learn more. For information on other charter boat opportunities in the area, visit www.ufish.com/regions/ri.htm.
