The Assistant Keeper's House

The Assistant Keeper's House. . , The first assistant keeper at Beavertail Light was hired about 1859. It appears that the early assistant keepers shared part of the keeper's quarters or lived in one of the outbuildings on site., In 1898, the U.S. Lighthouse Board added this residence at Beavertail for the assistant keeper and family. The assistant keeper's house was smaller and oriented 90 degrees from the keeper's house. This gave an unobstructed view of the sea from both floors., The Lighthouse Board not only took care of the keeper's and assistant keeper's physical needs, but their intellectual needs as well. The Board circulated portable libraries of 50 volumes they felt were a "proper admixture of historical, scientific, poetical, and good novels, together with a Bible.", In 1969, Beavertail's assistant keeper was George Light. He became well known for answering the phone: "Beavertail Light, Light speaking.", The building's use as a residence was discontinued when the light was automated in 1972. On June 25, 1989, the Rhode Island Parks Association opened a museum in the building. In 1993 the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum Association was formed to operate the museum., You were up before five o'clock. When day light came you extinguished the light, trimmed the wick, got everything ready for the next night, took care of the tower, polished the lens, put the cover on, then you went about your duties of painting, maintaining, and general chores ... Toward evening, you'd just reverse what you did in the morning. , Charles Homan, grandson of a Prudence Island Light Keeper