Name and Location

Block Island North Light (often simply “North Light”; sometimes referred to locally as “Corn Neck Light”) is located at 757 North Light (Corn Neck Road), New Shoreham, Washington County, Rhode Island 02807, USA. The coordinates are 41°13′39.3″ N, 71°34′32.9″ W.

2. Construction and History

The Block Island North Light was first established in 1867-1868, replacing an earlier light station from 1829. It was deactivated in 1893, officially discontinued as an aid to navigation. The tower was built using dressed granite ashlar masonry on a stone foundation during the Post–Civil War expansion of the U.S. lighthouse system.

3. Architecture and Materials

The North Light is a tapered octagonal “schoolhouse”-style tower attached to a keeper’s house, typical of vernacular 19th-century U.S. Lighthouse Board architecture. The tower height is approximately 16.5 meters (54 feet) from base to lantern roof.

4. Light and Navigation

The light characteristic was last exhibited as group-flashing white – 1 flash followed by 4 flashes every 5 seconds. The nominal range of the light was about 3 nautical miles. The lighthouse is listed on NOAA Chart Reference 13215 (Block Island Sound).

5. Accessibility and Visiting

Access to the tower and keeper’s house is privately owned and not open to the public. Viewing can be done from Corn Neck Road, where a small roadside pull-off offers views of the tower from the west.

6. Notable Views and Landscape

The lighthouse is sited on a low bluff overlooking the northern shore of Block Island Sound. The surrounding terrain features maritime grasslands, scrub oak, and low dunes typical of Rhode Island coastal environment. Panoramic vistas of the Sound to the north are available, with distant views of Montauk Point on clear days.

7. Anecdotes and Folklore

Early keepers were said to row across Great Salt Pond in all weather to tend the light. Speculation suggests that shifting shoals on the north shore may have rendered the light less effective for mariners, leading to its eventual discontinuation.

8. Technical and Operational Details

The lighthouse was never automated since it was discontinued in 1893. Present use is as a private dwelling, with the lantern room long since removed or boarded over.

9. Further Information

The Block Island North Light Station is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places (NRHP #73000055, added 1973). For more information, refer to Wikipedia, Wikidata, and the U.S. Lighthouse Society online resources.