Accessibility: 
Geographic coordinates: 41° 37' 56" N 71° 16' 24" W
Nearest town: Portsmouth. Located at the east side of Narragansett Bay, west of the entrance to Mount Hope Bay.
Established: 1901. Present lighthouse built: 1901. Automated: 1964.
Height of tower: 60 feet. Height of focal plane: 54 feet.
Previous optic: Fifth-order Fresnel lens. Present optic: 250 mm.
Characteristic: 3 seconds white alternating with 3 seconds darkness.
Fog signal: Two blasts every 30 seconds.
Two hundred-acre Hog Island is in the middle of the approach to Bristol Harbor, just west of the entrance to Mount Hope Bay. Treacherous shoals extend to the south of the island. In 1866, a small light boat was positioned near the shoals. A larger lightship, the LV 12, was stationed there in 1886. Congress approved $35,000 for a lighthouse at the location on March 3, 1899. The 60-foot cast-iron sparkplug-type lighthouse was finished in October 1901.
The structure has five decks; the second and third levels were the living quarters for the keepers. The light was converted from kerosene to electricity in 1959 with the laying of a submarine cable. It was among the last lights in the nation to be electrified. Automation was completed in 1964, and the last Coast Guard keepers were removed.
Fascinating Fact 
Shortly before the lighthouse went into service, the keeper of the lightship that preceded it was dismissed for drunkenness.
In 2004, the lighthouse was made available to a new owner under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 (NHLPA). There were no applicants within the allotted time period, so the lighthouse was auctioned to the highest bidder under the provisions of the NHLPA. In November 2006, it was announced that the lighthouse had been sold for $165,000 to a couple from South Dakota.
The lighthouse may be seen distantly from many vantage points, including from the Mount Hope Bridge. The Prudence Island ferry from Bristol passes within photographing distance.
