Charles Allen of Kingston, Rhode Island built Poplar Point Lighthouse, a stone keeper's dwelling with an octagonal wooden light tower attached to the roof, in 1831. Samuel Thomas, Jr was appointed Poplar Point's first keeper in November of that year. He was paid $300 a year.
Poplar Point Lighthouse's illuminating apparatus consisted of eight Argand lamps with concave reflectors arranged around two hoops. The Argand lamp looks like a kerosene lamp. The reflector was 14 inches in diameter and weighed three pounds. In 1855, they were replaced by a sixth order steamer lens and an Argand lamp.
The lighthouse was discontinued in 1882. It was replaced by the Wickford Harbor Lighthouse.
On October 15, 1894, Poplar Point Lighthouse was sold, at public auction, to Albert R. Sherman for $3,944.67. In later years, it was added to, by subsequent owners, altering its original appearance.
In the late 1980's Russel and Kathy Shippee purchased Poplar Point Lighthouse. The lighthouse was in need of renovation. They had two options, renovate the existing structure or preserve what could be preserved and to redo the rest. They chose the second option. They tore down the one story northwest wing and replaced it with a two story structure. They gutted the rest of the house. They replaced the plumbing and wiring, added insulation, re-plastered the walls and replaced all 54 windows in the house.
| Polpar Point Lighthouse and Wickford Harbor Lighthouse in 1900 |
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| Courtesy of N.L. Stebbins |
See more of Poplar Point Lighthouse in Rhode Island Lighthouses: A Pictorial History by R Holmes.