by Joe Baker - NDN

For more than a century, ships entering Newport Harbor - the lifeblood of the area's trade economy - did so at their own risk. No lighthouse was built to warn seafarers of underwater impediments until the first Newport Harbor Lighthouse was built on the south end of Goat Island in 1824. The original beacon was a whale-oil lantern.

But the lighthouse quickly proved inadequate, as ships continued to run aground on shallow reefs off the north end of Goat Island. Plans proceeded to build a new lighthouse on the north end of the island and, in 1842, a new 35-foot-high, octagonal-shaped beacon opened with a multi-lamp and reflector combination emitting a fixed white light.

That lighthouse was built on a granite breakwater a short distance off the northern tip of Goat Island. The original lighthouse was dismantled and moved to Prudence Island, where it continues to serve mariners today.

Fifteen years after they began operating, the light­house's reflectors were replaced by a more powerful lens developed by French physicist Augustin Fresnel. The Fresnel lens was able to send a beam of light much farther than anything used up to that time.

In 1864, a two-story, six-room keeper's house was added to the east of the lighthouse. The house provided shelter from the weather for keepers until a submarine struck the jetty in 1920. Too damaged to repair, the house was torn down in 1922. That same year, the lighthouse was converted to electrical pow­er. In 1963, it was automated, eliminating the need for a keeper.

During the urban renewal efforts of the 1970s, the area between Goat Island and the lighthouse was filled in and a hotel- then the Sheraton and most recently the Hyatt - was built.

In 2000, the Coast Guard leased the Goat Island lighthouse to the American Lighthouse Foundation. The foundation has begun what is planned to be a $125,000 renovation of the beacon, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The first phase, completed in early December, was installa­tion of a mahogany fence around the lighthouse. That cost $25,000, said Robert Trapani, executive director of the foundation.

Renovation of the light­house itself must wait until the foundation raises the rest of the money, Trapani said, because it can­not be done in phases. He said he hopes that work can begin sometime in 2007.