July 8, 2010By Arline A. Fleming NORTH KINGSTOWN — Scott Chapin spent a long-ago summer day living what some might consider a Hardy Boy’s adventure on Dutch Island – or depending upon how you look at it, a “Twilight Zone” episode. It was during his 1960s boyhood, when summers on the Saunderstown shoreline were spentContinue reading “At Dutch Island, Ghosts of Past Settlements”
Author Archives: dutchislandlighthouse
A Whole New Light
November 19, 2007By Arline A. Fleming A cannon sounded, the countdown began, and a little after 7 last night, the 1857 Dutch Island Lighthouse light blinked on for the first time in more than two decades. Two seconds on, four seconds off, the six-second cycle beamed on, and will stay on, according to Dutch IslandContinue reading “A Whole New Light”
Dutch Island Lighthouse Shines for Mariners
November 21, 2007By Sam Bari An early photo of the Dutch Island Light. A dozen cars and twice as many people lined the shore at Fort Getty on the Jamestown side of Dutch Island last Saturday night. All eyes were focused on the freshly painted Dutch Island Lighthouse tower that was bathed in white light.Continue reading “Dutch Island Lighthouse Shines for Mariners”
The Light is re-lit: Keepers of the Dutch Island Light
By Sue Maden and Rosemary Enright John Paul Albert Henry Porter was the first Dutch Island lighthouse keeper appointed under the new Civil Service legislation. He was also the first and only keeper asked to resign for moral turpitude. Porter, the son of a lighthouse keeper, joined the Light House Service at the age ofContinue reading “The Light is re-lit: Keepers of the Dutch Island Light”
The Society is Formed
by Peter Randall, MD In May of 2000, the lighthouse was visited by the DILS Board and Chris Powell of the RI Dept. of Environmental Management (which had jurisdiction over the island). In June of 2000, Ginger Hesse and Roberta Randall of the RI State Historic Preservation Office also visited the lighthouse. They assessed theContinue reading “The Society is Formed”
From Settlement to World War II
Little “Dutch” Island, comprising 81 acres, is located in the West Passage of Narragansett Bay between Jamestown and Saunderstown, RI. Originally it was called “Quetenis” by the Narragansett Indians who sold it to the Dutch West Indian Company about 1636. The Dutch from New Amsterdam (later New York) used the island as a safe placeContinue reading “From Settlement to World War II”